Victory Interview with Brad Keselowski from NASCAR Nationwide Series at IS
Hi. I will be at Watkins Glen this weekend. If you will be there, give me a shout. I would love to meet you in person. Or tell me what you would like to see, Iā€™ll try snap the photo. Also, attached is the audio file of the interview with race champ Brad Keselowski along with a transcript and a link to all the pictures we shot this weekend http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationwide/sets/72157621792631307 I have also attached a piece about Brad winning Nationwideā€™s Dash 4 Cash. This may be of interest to your readers. Nancy Smeltzer Nationwide Insurance Communication Consultant (614) 249-4491 FAX: (614) 677-6802 Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/nancy501 Brad Keselowski NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion Interview ā€“ Iowa Speedway The inaugural U.S. Cellular 250 Iowa Speedway lived up to its pre-race hype. As a sell out crowd of 60,000-plus saw Brad Keselowski out-duel Kyle Busch for the victory. The defining movement came when the caution came out with 38 laps to go and Busch and many of the lead lap cars pitted for fresh rubber while Keselowski, who was out front. chose not to come in. When it went back to green, Busch needed just six laps to pass Keselowski, but after another caution the GoDaddy.com Chevrolet driver stormed past Busch to take back the lead with eight to go and held onto his second win of the season. Now Iowa was also one for four tracks in the Nationwide Series Dash 4 Cash program for full-time Nationwide Series drivers. So Keselowski pocketed an extra $75,000. Brad Keselowski: Man, its sure means a lot to win this race. You know, the Dash 4 Cash program at Nationwide has to be the guy who wins that. Thatā€™s pretty neat and this is one of the headquarters for my sponsor GoDaddy.com, so that was awesome and the inaugural race here at Iowa, to win here in front of a crowd like we had today, thatā€™s pretty awesome. It was a good race too. Iā€™d rather win them this way than to run away with them to be honest because it is a lot more fun to say that I beat Kyle heads up, so that means a lot to me as well. For Kyle Busch he tied a Nationwide Series record of nine straight finishes of first or second. Kyle Busch: Wish they were all firsts, that would certainly be nice, then we would have broken another recorded. We would have the most wins in a single season but I should be so grateful and so thankful to finish second but I am not. When you finish second 12 times in a year, Iā€™m sorry guys but when you finish second 12 times in a year, I donā€™t know if itā€™s 12 or not but it certainly feels like it. It gets to you, it gets to you really bad because there is only one car in front of you that you needed to beat that day and you didnā€™t get the job done. Whether it is me or the car, I have no idea but I put all the pressure on myself to come out here and win these things and when I donā€™t get the job done I feel like I let my team down. Jason Lefflerā€™s Great Clips Toyota team worked on their ill handling racecar all day, until they got it right and Jason was able to come home third. Jason Leffler: It took us a couple stops in the last pit stop but Scott Zipadelli really got after it and made some big changes in it and it helped. It made our car really good. It went from being from running good for five laps and bad on the long run to being really good on the long run, so weā€™ll just take this third place and move onto the next one. We are trying to win one. Iā€™d take one in a row actually, but Iā€™d like to get to victory lane. That would be pretty cool. Karl Edwards was forth and Kelly Bires fifth. Now for Bires, it was only the third time this season that heā€™s run the full race. In all three times he has finished in the top 10. Kelly Bires: I wish I was doing it more often. Itā€™s just one of those years where itā€™s an off year with the economy and the situation Iā€™m in. We just have to get some more races under our belt. Six through 10: Jason Keller, Kenny Wallace, Michael McDowell, Scott Lagasse Jr. and Stephen Leicht. The seven-eighths-mile Iowa Speedway put on such a great show, Keselowski believes it would be a heck of a place for a cup race. Keselowski: How can you deny a track that puts on racing this good a cup date? This is one of the best shows that you could ever have. Thatā€™s pretty cool, to win a race in the last 10 laps with side-by-side racing. Really most of the race, I know there was one stretch there where we kind of pulled way but it was side-by-side racing most of the race and the fans love that. I could see him literally jumping up and down while I was trying to pass Kyle and that was exciting and thatā€™s what NASCAR needs right now. It needs excitement like what we had today. Keselowski remains third in points with Carl Edwards second. Now 207 behind the leader, Kyle Busch. A full set of the pictures taken at Iowa Speedway can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationwide/sets/72157621792631307 The Nationwide Series will return this week to the Watkins Glen International. Look for the audio interview following the Zippos 200 at The Glen. And donā€™t forget, Nationwideā€™s Media Team will be Twittering from Watkins Glen International. You can follow the Teamā€™s whereabouts on the track at Twitter/Nationwide (http://twitter.com/Nationwide). If there is a picture of someone or something you would like to see trackside, send your request to http://twitter.com/Nationwide. The team will try its best to get the shot. Pictures will be posted at http://www.twitpic.com/photos/nationwide