SRT Motorsports 2012 NSCS Bank of America 500 Post-Race Recaps

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Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T) Finished 11th

TONIGHT FUEL MILEAGE BIT YOU, SOMETHING THAT’S BEEN GOOD FOR YOU MOST OF THE YEAR.  “Yeah, it’s like playing blackjack.  Sometimes you’re going to get a good deal but you’re not going to win ‘em all.  You know that.  You hope that you’re sitting there with 13 and not have a lot of chips in the pile.  We didn’t.  We didn’t lose too much.  We got 11th out of the day where everything kind of fell against us from cautions at the beginning to lack of ‘em at the end.  We still put out a respectable effort.  Good day, led a bunch of laps, which helps for not getting in the top 10.  Would like to get those other few spots but you’re not going to catch those breaks every time.  We still made the most of it.”

THEY ASKED YOU ABOUT SAVING FUEL.  DO YOU THINK NOW THAT YOU COULD HAVE SAVED ENOUGH TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE?  “I don’t know.  I didn’t sit back and watch the race and see how it all played out.  It’s hard to tell.  I don’t have the whole picture yet, so it’s hard for me to say.”

THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT YOU’RE STILL THE POINTS LEADER BUT IT WAS A ROLLER COASTER RIDE.  THE GAMBLE ON FUEL DIDN’T PAY OFF, DID IT?  “You know, quite the opposite actually.  We just didn’t gamble to the same extent that everybody else did but that’s okay.  We kind of got the opposite strategy played on us and those guys played it well.  We did the best we could and certainly had a solid effort where we led a bunch of laps, led the most laps which feels great, and got those bonus points, so an 11th-place finish is more like a ninth with those.  Still, we would have liked to have gotten the finish that we deserved but that’s okay.  Great effort, solid car and we know we’ve got something great for Kansas and all the mile-and-a-halfs coming up.  We may not have won the race today but we definitely put on a message that we’re going to be a tough car to beat week in and week out.”

IS THERE A LEVEL OF SATISFACTION WHEN YOU HAVE A NIGHT WITH A MISTAKE AND YOU STILL COME OUT AS THE POINTS LEADER?  “Yeah, that’s not too bad is it?  You know, that’s what that point’s cushion does.  We know that Denny (Hamlin) and Jimmie (Johnson) are going to win races.  We just need to keep pushing to keep ‘em honest and that’s what we’re going to do.”

WERE YOU SURPRISED WHEN YOU RAN OUT WHEN YOU DID?  “You know, I didn’t know enough about what was going on to really say surprised or not surprised.  I had a bearing for how much I saved but I need to have a conversation with Paul (Wolfe, crew chief) to see those things.”

IT SOUNDED LIKE YOU WERE SUPPSOED TO COME IN A LAP EARLIER BUT YOU KEPT IT OUT ANOTHER LAP.  WERE YOU WORRIED ABOUT THAT?  “I don’t know what’s going on.  I can’t see the whole picture so I have to trust.”

HOW MUCH DID RUNNING OUT OF FUEL IMPACT YOUR POSITION?  “I think we probably would have finished fourth or fifth from what I can tell if we didn’t run out of fuel but that’s the way it is.  I had to coast for quite a ways and it wouldn’t start when I got back to pit road.  So, it’s just a combination.”

WAS IT A SOMEWHAT AGGRESSIVE MOVE TO STAY OUT ANOTHER LAP?  IF SO, WHY IS IT IMPORTANT IT BE AGGRESSIVE?  “This 2 team, I know I speak for myself and I think it speaks for everybody else, we’re not going to play defense.  We’re not going to put the prevent defense out there.  We’re going to go at you and we’re going to try to sack the quarterback every time and sometimes you’re going to miss and they’re going to get a big play off.  We’ve hit ‘em a lot.  That’s why we’re in the point’s lead and we’re going to keep after ‘em.”

DID YOU RUN OUT AT ABOUT THE ENTRANCE TO PIT ROAD?  “I ran out coming off of four and I’d already passed pit road.  That was kind of a worst-case scenario.  That’s part of the breaks but we still minimized the damage the best we could.”

WAS THAT YOUR CALL?  DID THEY TELL YOU TO LOOK AT THE FUEL PRESSURE GAGUE?  “Yeah, we were trying to just have a good grasp of what was going on and you know everything looked good at the last point where I could still look at it.  Obviously, it was just the worst-case scenario.”

DO YOU THINK YOU WERE GETTING WORSE FUEL MILEAGE?  THEY HAD ALSO TOPPED OFF ON THE STOP BEFORE.  “Yeah, I’m really confused on how all that played out.  I need to see more info before I say something that I’m not sure of.”

THIS TRACK HASN’T BEEN KIND TO YOU IN THE PAST BUT YOU LED THE MOST LAPS HERE TONIGHT.  THAT’S A BIG INDICATION OF HOW MUCH THIS PROGRAM HAS IMPROVED.  “Absolutely.  That just shows how strong our cars are and that our team is going down the right path.  I still feel like we’re going to be really tough to beat.”

ARE YOU FRUSTRATED INSIDE AND TRYING TO KEEP IT TOGETHER?  “Like I said, it’s like blackjack.  You’re not going to win every hand.  When you have a bad deal, you try to not have too many chips on the table.”

IF YOU HAD NOT RUN OUT OF FUEL, DO YOU THINK YOU WERE IN POSITION TO WIN?  “Oh, absolutely.  If we wouldn’t have run out of fuel, we would have had a shot at winning the race.  The bottom line is we did, so that’s kind of moot point.”

WAS YOUR DODGE THE CLASS OF THE FIELD?  “It’s hard to say who had the best car.  I think the 11 (Hamlin) and the 48 (Johnson) and the 2 car were and it was going to come back to how the race played out.”

MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE THIS CHASE MIGHT BE DOWN TO THREE TEAMS AT THIS POINT AND FOR A LARGE PORTION OF THE RACE, YOU GUYS WERE RUNNING 1-2-3.  WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF THAT?  “I was thinking they were right (laughs).  But you know, obviously, Clint (Bowyer) snuck in there at the end and proved that you never count another guy out.”

YOU ARE SEVEN POINTS AHEAD OF JOHNSON, 15 ON HAMLIN, 28 ON BOWYER AND 35 ON KASEY KAHNE.  “I mean basically I feel like if you can score 400 points you’ll win the Chase.  We’re halfway through and we scored 214.  If we can put up another 214, we’ll be in real good shape.  It’s just history.  You make 400, that’s what it’s going to take to win it and we’re above that.”

Related Stories:

1. Ford Racing 2012 NSCS Bank of America 500 Post-Race Recaps
2. SRT Motorsports 2012 NSCS Bank of America 500 Post-Qualifying Recaps
3. 2012 NSCS Bank of America 500 Q&A with SRT Motorsports Driver Brad Keselowski

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