Deuces Wild: Strategy pays off for Keselowski, Allmendinger struggles

Brad Keselowski's Monday night Tweets sent his twitter account on fire, but Sunday afternoon he was all business as he strapped into the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge. Starting from the 28th position after a dismal qualifying run, Keselowski and the team took advantage of an early caution to get ahead of the game. When the yellow flew for the blown right front of Clint Bowyer, the team decided to stay on the track and gain valuable track position. Restarting in the seventh position, the Blue Deuce spent the rest of the day well within the top-10. Strong from the start the team made very few changes during each pit stop only helping to improve the handling of the car. After leading three laps during a series of green-flag stops, the Paul Wolfe led team kept the car inside the top-five for the second half of the race, ultimately finishing fifth.

Following the race, Keselowski said, "Yeah, it was a long day, but you know, the Miller Lite Dodge team worked hard today and we had awesome pit stops, awesome pit strategy to help us get up towards the front. It was a dogfight just to hold on and that was kind of the story of our day. I fought really hard on that last restart. I knew I had the lead going into three and she just didn’t stick. That just shows the effort that we’re all putting into it, whether it’s me behind the wheel or the whole team building these cars and going over the wall. If we keep putting that effort in, we’ll find ourselves in victory lane.  We’re still proud of our fifth-place finish here today. It’s definitely my best here at Phoenix.”


The "Double Deuce" of AJ Allmendinger was a victim of circumstances beyond his control during Sunday's Subway Fresh Fit 500. On Lap 133, while battling for 15th place with Paul Menard, Menard's Chevy got loose colliding with Allmendinger and ripping much of the rear of the car off. Never giving up, the Shell Pennzoil team worked to repair the damage and get Allmendinger back on the track still on the lead lap. Battling an ill-handling race car and some vibration in the right rear the team salvaged an 18th place finish one lap down.

Allmendinger said on Twitter following the race, "Not what we wanted. I def need to keep working on getting better. Shell/Pennzoil Dodge deserves to run better. My guys did a good job on Working hard to repair the car and staying the game. Good job to my teammate BK for give the team a good run. Will work hard to get ready 4 Las Vegas."
Deuces Wild: Strategy pays off for Keselowski, Allmendinger struggles Deuces Wild: Strategy pays off for Keselowski, Allmendinger struggles Reviewed by Katy Lindamood on Monday, March 05, 2012 Rating: 5