Team Penske Geico 500 Recap

Brad Keselowski celebrates victory in the Geico 500.

BRAD KESELOWSKI, NO. 2 REDD’S WICKED APPLE ALE FORD

The No. 2 Redd’s Wicked Ale Ford pitted for the last time at lap 173 while running in ninth position. The team appeared to be poised to benefit from the stop, when a caution flag was displayed on the out lap and that ultimately resulted in the No. 2 losing several positions.

· With just 12 laps remaining in the scheduled race distance. Keselowski restarted in 21st place. By lap 183 he had advanced to second place in the running order with a fast Redd’s Wicked Apple Ale Ford.

· Two late-race cautions set up a green-white-checkered flag finish with Keselowski at the front of the field. With help of teammate Joey Logano, Keselowski was able to hold off the pack and win the race.

· The clutch performance allowed Keselowski and the No. 2 Redd’s Wicked Apple Ale Ford team to advance to the Eliminator Round of the Chase. Sunday’s remarkable effort marked Keselowski’s sixth victory of the 2014 NSCS season as well as his 16th career victory and his third career win at Talladega.

A STRONG PERFORMANCE ADVANCES THE TEAM TO THE NEXT ROUND. HOW IMPORTANT WAS THIS WIN?

“We knew we had to win obviously coming into this day. When the weekend started I thought we had the opportunity to do that. We had very, very fast cars at Daytona and Talladega here the past three restrictor plate races and didn’t really get any of the results we thought we were capable of. I restarted second in the 500 on the last restart and whiffed on winning the Daytona 500. I still have some nightmares about that one and then Talladega I just kind of fell into every bit of chaos possible in the spring, and then the Daytona race in July I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the back of my mind, those three races that we had so much speed at and no results to show for it made me feel like we were due.

Keselowski was confident of victory going into the weekend.

"I told Roger (Penske) and Ford and guys like (crew chief) Paul (Wolfe) and my spotter Joey Meier that I felt we were gonna win today because of that. I felt like those mistakes, whether it was Daytona on the last restart, the bad luck we faced, it couldn’t continue to go that way and sure enough it didn’t. We certainly didn’t just get handed this race today. We had the incident early in the race where I think the 1 car blew a tire out. He half-spun and kind of got in our door and tore that up. It was a pretty hard hit. I thought the car was torn up pretty good, but I still haven’t seen it but Paul says it was good. We maybe lost just a touch of speed, but not enough to overcome the will to win that we had today.

"From there it was about finding the track position, making the right moves, finding the right lanes and I thought we were in good shape having run top five, top 10 most of the race. Sure enough, on that green flag pit cycle the yellow came out and trapped us behind a lot of cars we were gonna be in front of and we ended up restarting 16th or something like that with 10 to go. That felt like a death sentence in itself, but we kept our composure. I worked really well with my teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney. We made kind of the perfect move together to go from 16th to second in three or four laps. That put us in position to really capitalize on the last two yellows. From there we did just that, so we positioned ourselves well with great teamwork, executed the restarts kind of off the lessons learned from Daytona and from there it was all about that last lap and choosing the lanes wide to be able to block the cars that had runs and all that came together perfectly. I kind of feel like Hannibal here – I love when a plan comes together. Everything just felt right today and we’re here as winners because of that."

Ryan Blaney made his second Sprint Cup start yesterday at Talladega.

The No. 12 SKF Ford Fusion driven by Ryan Blaney

· Making his second and final scheduled NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start of 2014, Ryan Blaney began the 500-mile race at Talladega from the fourth position in the No. 12 SKF Ford Fusion. The strong qualifying performance marked the highest starting position by any Ford Racing driver in the field.

· Blaney quickly jumped out to the race lead on the second lap and held the top spot for the next 13 circuit. These were the first laps led of his young NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career.

· With Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski having to start the race from the rear of the field after changing his alternator following qualifying, Blaney was concerned when his volt meter began to drop around lap 50. However, after switching to the second battery, the SKF Ford Fusion was able to continue without any issue.

· Unfortunately for Blaney, the outside line did not move forward enough on the final restart for him to make up ground and he crossed the finish line in the 22nd position.

· Blaney will now turn his attention back to trying to secure the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title for his teammates’ team – Brad Keselowski Racing, as he is second in the championship standings. Blaney will also continue to try and help the Team Penske No. 22 Discount Tire/Hertz Ford Mustang in its quest for the team’s second-consecutive NASCAR Nationwide Series Owner’s Title.

RYAN BLANEY. NO. 12 SKF FORD
A SOLID PERFORMANCE SUNDAY AND YOU GOT A CHANCE TO LEAD YOUR FIRST LAPS IN THE SPRINT CUP SERIES. HOW WAS YOUR DAY?

“All in all it was a pretty solid day for the SKF Ford Fusion. We were able to get up front early and lead some laps in my first (NASCAR Sprint) Cup Series start at Talladega. Having the yellow rookie stripe on your bumper really hurts you in these races and we got shuffled back a few times, but hopefully I gained some respect of the drivers today. We had a hard time maintaining some good runs throughout the day to stay up there and challenge for a good finish. Congrats to Brad (Keselowski) for doing what he had to do to move on to the next round of the Chase. It’s cool for Team Penske to have him and Joey continue on. It was a learning experience today for me but I’m proud of the effort by everyone on the team."

Joey Logano continues to lead the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings.

The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion driven by Joey Logano

· Joey Logano started Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway from the 40th position. Logano actually turned in the fourth-fastest lap in the first round of qualifying on Saturday, but NASCAR disallowed his time after determining he failed to cross the start/finish line before the five-minute session clock ran out.

· As teammate Brad Keselowski started at the back of the field due to a parts change on his car, Logano and Keselowski hooked up early and planned out their strategy. Eventually the duo elected to charge toward the front of the field after spending a few laps running at the back of the pack.

· The 24-year-old also emerged from Talladega still the Sprint Cup Series point leader, now four points ahead of Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman

THAT WAS A CRAZY RACE FOR YOU WITH THE EARLY ACCIDENT, THE COMEBACK AND HELPING YOUR TEAMMATE TO THE WIN. DID THE RACE DEVELOP AS YOU EXPECTED?

“We accomplished what we wanted to do with getting Brad in the Chase. We just weren’t able to get the finish that I hoped we would get out of the whole thing. I really thought we had a shot to win, but it was important to push Brad to the win. We were able to push him to the lead, we just lost some spots those last few laps. Now, we move onto the next round and try and win the race at Martinsville and get ourselves locked in to the Championship race at Homestead."

Team Penske