Victory Interview with Brad Keselowski from NASCAR Nationwide Series at MMP
@Nationwidenns will be at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth Nov. 6 and 7. 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/72157622668729230 Nancy Smeltzer Nationwide Insurance Communication Consultant (614) 249-4491 FAX: (614) 677-6802 Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/nancy501 Follow Nationwide on Twitter: www.twitter.com/nationwidenns Brad Keselowski NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion Interview – Memphis Motorsports Park Brad Keselowski has mad skills, but after the 32nd Nationwide Series race of the season in Memphis, he just had a number of drivers mad and questioning those skills. In the end though, Keselowski survived the years ninth green-white-checkered flag finish to grab his forth victory in 2009. Eventual runner-up Kyle Busch banged on Keselowski’s back bumper coming out of the final turn on the last lap. But Keselowski held on as his Delphi Chevy went sideways. Brad Keselowski: Kyle was just fast, he was there and I was doing all I could do to stay in front of him and I thought I was going to wreck to be honest. I just caught it at the last minute; I knew I was going to have to run hard to the line. I couldn’t have beat him by more than two or three feet. Just good hard racing. He wasn’t giving an inch and neither was I, just came out on top. Things got rough and tumble in the final short track race of the year, with Keselowski getting into Justin Allgaier and Mike Bliss and even sent Carl Edwards spinning. Keselowski: I’d like to give myself more credit but a lot of the moves you make are just guesses. You want to say, well I think he’s going to be here. You commit to a move and he changes or it changes, the situation changes and it doesn’t work out and sometimes when that happens or probably 75 percent of the time when that happens there’s no wreck, you just push up or whatever happens and today I was very aggressive, put myself in a lot of those situations and a few of them led to contact and a think two of them led to spins. I didn’t do myself any favor by them I can tell you that. It’s not like I came out on top, I tore my car up and slowed it down. It wasn’t like that was what won me the race. What won me the race was being aggressive throughout. The specific contacts didn’t win me the race, they actually hurt me. Suffering from the flu, Jason Leffler came home third and said being sick, actually helped his concentration. Jason Leffler: It really does, people say that and it’s true, it seems like when I don’t feel good sometimes they’re my better races. But it’s tough, I’d rather feel better. Winding up forth it was Mike Bliss, he led the most laps and could have won the race if it were not for Keselowski routing him out of the way late, in what turned out to be the Kroger 254. Mike Bliss: I got screwed, Brad got into me and put me into the marbles and we lost six spots and never really got them back and on the restarts Brad went down into one restart and it three or four wide. He won the race, congratulations but I don’t think I would have done that. I should have put him down into the grass and threw him in to the walls but I didn’t do it. Finishing right behind Bliss in fifth it was Brendan Gaughan who had a big lead and was looking like he was going to win, when a late yellow took it away. Brendan Gaughan: First time in a long time that we drove through the field. The rest of the Wallace team gave us a … car. Ran to the front, passed everybody, we passed old Bliss, passed Kyle Busch, passed Carl Edwards and I was like holy cow I remember what this used to feel like. No I did not want a yellow but it was a great fun day and the US Fidelis guys gave me great pit stops so we came home fifth, we’ll take it. Sixth at the finish it was Carl Edwards with Scott Wimmer, David Reutimann, Stephen Leicht and Landon Cassill rounding out the top 10. With just three races left in the season, Kyle Busch has firm control of the Nationwide Series title fight with a 215 point lead over Edwards and his 257 up on Keselowski, who got a cool piece of hardware for winning at Memphis. Plus Brad won the Nationwide Dash 4 Cash by scoring the most points at Nashville, Kentucky, Iowa and Memphis. For that, he collected a $75,000 bonus. Keselowski: Got this Elvis trophy, I really wanted that trophy bad. Just as bad as I wanted the Dash 4 Cash. Felt like I had a good shot getting it a couple years ago and it slipped through the cracks and to be able to finally get it today is a special feeling. One other quick note with Busch’s runner-up Toyota wrapped up its second straight Nationwide Series Manufacturer’s Championship. A full set of the pictures taken at the Memphis Motorsports Park can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationwide/sets/72157622668729230/ The Nationwide Series will return this Nov. 6 and 7 to Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Look for the audio interview following the O’Reilly Challenge. And don’t forget, Nationwide’s Media Team will be Twittering from the Texas Motor Speedway Nov. 6 and 7. You can follow the Team’s whereabouts on the track on Twitter ( http://twitter.com/Nationwidenns). If there is a picture of someone or something you would like to see trackside, send your request to http://twitter.com/Nationwidenns. The team will try its best to get the shot. Pictures will be posted at http://www.twitpic.com/photos/nationwide