NASCAR BGN: Keller continues to chase Harvick in championship points

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

August 21, 2001

* Keller has captured seven straight top-10 finishes, including five top-five finishes.

* With Keller's eight-place finish at Michigan, he retakes second place in the NASCAR Busch Series Standings. Keller relinquished second place after a wreck at Talladega earlier this year. He is 236 points behind leader Kevin Harvick.

* Keller's consistency continues to be his strongest asset this season. The driver of the No. 57 Albertson's Ford has completed all but 23 laps.

* Keller and the Albertson's team are looking to redeem themselves this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. The team finished 11th in the spring race. Keller won at the concrete track in the spring race of 1999 and second at the fall race last year.

Jason Keller Quotes:

Chasing the Championship... Keller regained second place in the championship points standings with his seventh straight top-10 finish at Michigan last weekend. He is 236 points behind Harvick with 10 races to go. Keller knows it will be difficult to catch Harvick, but doesn't believe it's impossible.

"This team is doing everything I can ask of them," said Keller. "To win the championship you need to remain consistent and finish in the top 10 every week. We've had 16 top-10 finishes already this season. I believe we can still catch Harvick, but not without a little help. At tracks like Bristol and Richmond, anything can happen. I'm not hoping Harvick has problems, but if he falls out of the top 10 we need to be sure we are up front to capitalize on it. Harvick is not going to make many mistakes, and I can't wait around for him to do so. The bottom line is that we need to put the Albertson's Ford into victory lane. That's the only way we can guarantee gaining any ground."

Continuing His Success... Keller is hoping to improve upon his 11th-place finish in the spring race at Bristol. Bristol has been one of his most successful tracks on the NASCAR circuit. In 2000, Keller captured two top-10 finishes, including a second place finish in the fall night race. In the spring of 1999, Keller earned his first win at Bristol from the pole.

"We can't afford to finish out of the top five at Bristol," said Keller. "We were extremely disappointed in the spring with our qualifying effort and 11th-place finish. We had to pit on the backstretch and that puts you out of sync with the front half of the field. We decided as a team that we didn't want a replay of that race, so two weeks ago we went up to Bristol and tested. The test went pretty well and I was running times just as quick as everyone else. It will be difficult to gauge how the test went until raceday. I've seen a lot of success at Bristol, and once you win at track you expect nothing less when you return."

Text provided by H. Kincel

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