NASCAR At Kentucky 2012: Brad Keselowski Wins Quaker State 400

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wild card race can’t get much closer than this.

With nine races until the Chase cutoff, there are three drivers tied for the final wild card spot: Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Joey Logano. Kahne technically leads on a tiebreaker following Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. Kyle Busch holds the other wild card spot.

There is no better encapsulation of Carl Edwards’ frustrating 2012 season than Saturday night’s NASCAR race at Kentucky Speedway (see full Quaker State 400 results here).

The 1.5-mile track is the kind of oval Edwards has excelled on throughout his career, and he was expected to be in contention for the victory – or at the very least, a finish somewhere in the top five.

Brad Keselowski always has a lot to say and is one of NASCAR’s most thoughtful, articulate drivers. So whenever he wins, there are plenty of good quotes.

Here are Keselowski’s five most interesting comments from his post-race news conference after winning Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway:

Busch appeared to have the strongest car in the early stages of the race, leading from lap 46-96 and again from lap 99-129 of the 267-lap race. But his fortunes changed on lap 118 when he tagged the backstretch wall and developed a vibration. He maintained his lead until the lap 126 caution, but the car wasn’t the same in traffic. The contact broke spring mount which ultimately led to a broken spring.

There were about 80 laps between making contact with the wall and losing the shock, Busch said after the race.

Nobody passed more cars in Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway and no one at the end of the race was faster than Kasey Kahne. But that still wasn’t enough to get Kahne his second win of the year, and the Hendrick Motorsports driver instead finished a distant second to race winner Brad Keselowski.

But entering the weekend 17th in points and too far behind to climb into the top 10, Kahne knows he needs another victory if he is to make the Chase. That is why, despite the very respectable finish that many others would gladly take, Kahne couldn’t help but feel like he let one get away.

Building a big lead during the final green-flag run and saving enough fuel to get to the end of the race, Brad Keselowski won Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race in a backup car.

Keselowski, who wrecked his primary car after tangling with Juan Pablo Montoya in Friday’s first practice session for the race, picked up his series-best third victory of the season and the seventh of his career, all but assuring himself of a position in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Amid news of a contract extension for Denny Hamlin and speculation swirling around Matt Kenseth’s possible arrival at Joe Gibbs Racing next year, team owner Joe Gibbs said Saturday at Kentucky Speedway that his top priority was re-signing Joey Logano.

Logano, 22, who is in a contract year, has five NASCAR Nationwide Series victories and one Sprint Cup win to his credit this year and has begun to blossom in his pairing with first-year Cup crew chief Jason Ratcliff.

Speedway Motorsports Inc. chairman Bruton Smith, whose company also owns Kentucky Speedway, thinks mandatory caution laps are necessary to help bunch up the field and eliminate lengthy green flag periods.

“Call it what you will, but you have got to have caution flags,” Smith said during a press conference Saturday. “That creates excitement. You can’t just sit there while nothing happens. It ruins the event and it damages our sport. Look at some of your other sports – they have a mandatory timeout period, TV time and all these things that generate excitement. We need to be creative in what we do in NASCAR as well.”

Here are some things to watch for tonight’s NASCAR Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway:

Rule changes

Friday was a night of emotions for Austin Dillon, who enjoyed the euphoria of his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory, followed by the depressing news that his No. 3 Chevrolet had failed the height stick test in post-race inspection.

Dillon also took over the series lead from Richard Childress Racing teammate Elliott Sadler, but his slim two-point advantage is in jeopardy in the face of a possible NASCAR penalty because the rear of his car was deemed too low.

It’s NASCAR race night at Kentucky Speedway, and we’ve got the actual race start time, the starting lineup and some other facts about today’s race for you below.

What time does the race start Saturday? Quaker State exec Steve Reindl will give the command to fire engines at 7:37 p.m. Eastern time (actually scheduled for 30 seconds past 7:37, but we’ll round down). After a few pace laps, the green flag will wave at 7:45 p.m. (again, actually 7:45:30, but we’ll round down so you don’t miss anything). So if you want to skip the pre-race show and just tune in for the race, turn on your TV set at 7:45 p.m. Eastern.

An excessive heat warning is in effect until 8 p.m. EDT for Kentucky Speedway due to temperatures near 100 and high humidity. The heat index will once again feel like 105 to 110.

Like Friday, where outflow from passing storms caused damage to tents and displays at Kentucky Speedway, there could be a few isolated storms that pop up late in the afternoon and evening. It should be dry, as most of the rain and storms stay north in Indiana and Ohio, but we can’t rule anything out.

At a track that used to eat up his race cars, Jimmie Johnson was fastest of the fast in Friday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying session at Kentucky Speedway.

The 43rd of 44 drivers to make a timed run, Johnson toured the 1.5-mile speedway in 29.700 seconds (181.818 mph) to win the pole for Sunday’s Quaker State 400, the second Cup race at Kentucky. Johnson claimed his first Coors Light pole award since Sept. 26, 2010 at Dover and the 26th of his career.

In scorching hot weather at Kentucky, Juan Pablo Montoya lit Brad Keselowski’s fuse in Friday’s first practice session at Kentucky Speedway, and Keselowski retaliated in Happy Hour.

Contact between Montoya’s Chevrolet and Keselowski’s Dodge in the first session sent Keselowski’s car into the outside wall, forcing the Penske racing driver to a backup car. In a SPEED interview after the incident, Montoya explained the sequence of events from his point of view.

Just when it seemed things were headed in the right direction for Kyle Busch, everything fell apart.

Busch told reporters Friday at Kentucky Speedway his string of misfortune has been “frustrating beyond belief” and could only hope his luck would change soon.

Losing a NASCAR driver of Matt Kenseth’s stature would be a significant blow to any team, and Jack Roush made no bones about that harsh reality when he spoke with the media Friday at Kentucky Speedway.

But Roush apparently didn’t even see Kenseth’s departure coming.

Kenseth has finally reached a point where he is secure, for the rest of this season and for the foreseeable future. He has signed with a new team for next season (likely Joe Gibbs Racing), and Kenseth couldn’t be in a better spot to win his second Sprint Cup Series championship – assuming he can get past the speculation and scrutiny of where he ends up.

“This stuff is only a distraction if we let it become one,” Kenseth said. “I think it is totally up to me and the race team with how we handle this going forward. I think this will be the toughest weekend and after that I think things will settle down and we will be just fine for the rest of the year.”

After a win at Michigan and a hiccup at Sonoma, Dale Earnhardt Jr. wants a solid run at Kentucky Speedway to prove to himself and his team that this NASCAR season is different than the rest.

Earnhardt Jr. said he typically has a good start to the year, struggles in the summer and then picks up his performance again toward the end of the season. But with this being his best and most consistent Sprint Cup Series season ever so far, the Hendrick Motorsports driver doesn’t want to experience a summer letdown this time.

Last season, Clint Bowyer found himself in a situation similar to the one Matt Kenseth is about to experience: A lame-duck status with his race team.

Bowyer announced before the season ended he was leaving Richard Childress Racing for Michael Waltrip Racing, and the driver said it was difficult to keep his team together after that. Last week, Kenseth announced he would part ways with Roush Fenway Racing at the end of the season.

Heat advisory is once again in effect for all of the Ohio Valley, including Kentucky Speedway thanks to high temperatures near 100 and high humidity. The heat index today and Saturday could be from 105 to 110.

Along with the heat and steam, a passing disturbance to the north through Indiana and Ohio could spark an isolated shower or storm this afternoon and Saturday afternoon and evening.

Streaking away from Ty Dillon and Brad Keselowski after a restart with 36 laps left, James Buescher recorded his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory in Thursday night’s UNOH 225 at Kentucky Speedway.

Keselowski passed Dillon with two laps left to run second, 3.805 seconds behind Buescher. Dillon came home third, followed by pole-sitter Matt Crafton and Timothy Peters, who grabbed the series lead from Justin Lofton.

Brad Keselowski is entered in all three races this weekend at Kentucky Speedway and expects to win each one.

He has to be considered one of the favorites, having won the Nationwide Series race last summer and leading 79 laps in the Sprint Cup Series race before finishing seventh to eventual winner Kyle Busch. The task to sweep the weekend begins tonight in the Truck Series UNOH 250 at 8 p.m. EDT on SPEED.

NASCAR’s rule changes concerning the rear sway bars of Sprint Cup Series cars are a significant story to watch heading into this weekend’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.

The sway bar rule has the potential to impact the performance of teams which had been making advances in that area. Those teams, which include Hendrick Motorsports, had set up the sway bar at an angle that would skew the rear ends and helped the cars turn better in the corner.

Unsettled weather is likely across the Blue Grass for the end of the week and into the weekend.

THURSDAY:

5:05 p.m EDT

Truck Series Qualifying – Sunny and hot - temp: 102

6:30 p.m EDT

Nationwide Series Practice – Sunny and hot - temp: 100

8:00 p.m EDT

Truck Series Race – Hot and mostly clear - temp: 96

FRIDAY:

9:00 a.m EDT

Nationwide Series Final Practice – Mostly sunny, very warm – temp: 83

11:30 a.m EDT

Sprint Cup Series Practice – Mostly sunny and hot – temp: 92

1:30 p.m EDT

Sprint Cup Series Final Practice – Sun & Clouds, hot – temp: 98

3:35 p.m EDT

Nationwide Series Qualifying – Partly sunny, chance of a T’storm – temp: 99

5:10 p.m EDT

Sprint Cup Series Qualifying – Partly sunny, chance of a T’storm – temp: 99

7:30 p.m EDT

Nationwide Race – Partly sunny, chance of a T’storm – temp: 97