THE LINE - APRIL 17, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013 at 02:37PM
(Photo© 2013, Brian Czobat. autostock USA)
Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Pensek Racing Miller Lite Ford Fusion) makes a late pit stop in Saturday night's NRA 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway. The Penske Racing team was singled-out for their rear axle housings by NASCAR and they were forced to change them at the last minute, almost ruining Keselowski's and Joey Logano's (No. 22 Penske Racing Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion) race. Keselowski unleashed a verbal tirade - without naming NASCAR or anyone in particular - in the garage area afterward and there seems to be a lot more to the story at this point. Keselowski finished ninth and remained second in the Cup standings, nine points behind Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Lowe's Chevrolet SS), who finished sixth on Saturday. Logano stormed back to fifth. The bigger news, however, was the total domination by Kyle Busch (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing M&Ms Toyota Camry) of the race and the weekend. Pole-sitter Busch took the checkered flag .508 seconds ahead of runner-up Martin Truex Jr. (No. 56 Michael Waltrip Racing NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry). It was Busch’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory at Texas, his second of the season and the 26th of his Sprint Cup career. He won Friday night's Nationwide race as well. During post-race inspection, Truex's Toyota failed the height-stick test and was deemed too low in the front. The car will be taken to NASCAR's research-and-development center in Concord, N.C. for further examination. Check out these NASCAR video snippets from the Texas and Rockingham races here. NASCAR slammed Penske Racing with suspensions, fines and points penalties on Wednesday (4/17), four days after officials confiscated rear-end parts on the team's two cars before the NRA 500 in Texas. Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano each were docked 25 points, while their crew chiefs, car chiefs, engineers and team manager all were suspended for six weeks. The crew chiefs also were fined $100,000 each.
Editor-in-Chief"s Note: See the latest video chapter on Porsche's return to Le Mans in 2014 here. - PMD