Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race Report - LoudonSeptember 25, 2017Track: New Hampshire Motor Speedway No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – Brad Keselowski Start: 13th Recap: Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion team continued their strong start to the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with a fourth-place finish in the ISM Connect 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) on Sunday afternoon. After struggling a bit in the Friday qualifying session, Keselowski started the first, 75-lap stage from the 13th position. However, he quickly raced his way into the top 10 at lap 14 on the strength of exceptional forward drive off the flat, NHMS corners. The first stage ran caution-free allowing Keselowski to show the strength of his Ford to finish seventh in the first stage. A great pit stop by the Miller Lite crew propelled their driver to the third position for the start of the second, 75-lap stage. Keselowski would maintain his position inside the top five throughout the second stage. The final lap of the stage concluded with a multi-car incident that involved some of the leaders, allowing Keselowski to finish third in the stage to score eight bonus points. The final, 150-lap stage began with Keselowski in the fifth position. As the stage began he radioed to crew chief Paul Wolfe that the balance was great on the Miller Lite machine but he needed to turn a bit better in the center of the corners. With the balance squared away Wolfe made minor adjustments all day and Keselowski did his part behind the wheel to stay inside the top five for the rest of the stage. The 2012 MENCS champion crossed the finish line in the fourth position to lock himself into the Round of 12 of the playoffs. Quote: "It was great execution. The pit crew was really solid today and a pretty good setup on the Miller Lite Ford Fusion. Paul Wolfe and the engineers did a good job putting the right stuff under the car. I felt like we were where we needed to be to win and to run up front with the pit crew and the setup, just kind of lacking a little bit with aero stuff to keep up, but this type of track aerodynamics are a little less important and I felt like it helped us run a little bit higher this week." No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion – Joey Logano Start: 39th Quote: "We worked our way up into the top 14 or 15 the first run from last and that was the highlight, and then we just kind of stayed right there around 10th the rest of the day and finished there. I don't know, you can say if we started a little closer to the front we could hold a few of them off, but we're just not fast enough really. I sound like a broken record, but we're just not fast enough."
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