Brad Keselowski storms to dominating NNS win at Loudon

By Jerry BonkowskiJul 12, 2014, 5:55 PM EDT
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Brad Keselowski dominated en route to victory in Saturday’s 25th Sta-Green 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Keselowski led 153 of the 200 laps, holding off Kyle Busch, who led 34 laps but was forced to conserve fuel in the final 15 laps and just didn’t have enough to catch the race winner.

“It was actually hard-fought at the end there,” Keselowski told ESPN. “(Kyle) was really good. I didn’t think I was going to be able to hold him off. … It’s another win for Team Penske and I’m real proud to be part of it.”

Keselowski earned the 29th win and 100th top-five finish of his NNS career in 211 starts in NASCAR’s junior league.

Matt Kenseth finished third, followed by Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher.

Sixth through 10th were Elliott Sadler, Brian Scott, Chase Elliott, Trevor Bayne and Regan Smith.

Smith was the highest finishing driver in the Nationwide Series Dash-4-Cash contest, earning $100,000.

A wreck involving several drivers occurred on Lap 107 of the 200-lap event. Elliott Sadler was tapped from behind by Brian Scott, causing Sadler to spin out.

“I hate that I got into (Sadler) and caused that mix-up,” Scott said. “It was just my fault. I had a good roll going on the inside. … They checked up and I just got into them. I apologize, I think (Sadler) knows I don’t really race like that and we’ll be good.”

Added Sadler, “We got spun and lost a couple positions. … It was a tough weekend, I’m not going to lie. We battled all weekend, but to make the Dash-4-Cash (for next week’s race at Chicagoland Speedway) and to finish sixth, we’ll take that and move on to Chicago.”

Also being collected in the Scott-Sadler imbroglio were Paul Menard (his second wreck of the day; was involved in a minor wreck with Chase Elliott on Lap 102), James Buescher, Dakoda Armstrong, Carlos Contreras and Austin Theriault.

Here’s the final finishing order of Saturday’s Sta-Green 200 Nationwide Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway:

1 Brad Keselowski

2 Kyle Busch

3 Matt Kenseth

4 Kyle Larson

5 Chris Buescher

6 Elliott Sadler

7 Brian Scott

8 Chase Elliott

9 Trevor Bayne

10 Regan Smith

11 Ryan Reed

12 Ty Dillon

13 Dylan Kwasniewski

14 Ryan Preece

15 Landon Cassill

16 Brendan Gaughan

17 JJ Yeley

18 Ryan Sieg

19 Paul Menard

20 Jeremy Clements

21 Austin Theriault

22 James Buescher

23 Jeffrey Earnhardt

24 Brennan Newberry

25 Matt Frahm

26 Eric McClure

27 Tanner Berryhill

28 Derrike Cope

29 Joey Gase

30 Dakoda Armstrong

31 Jake Crum

32 Mike Bliss

33 Kevin Lepage

34 Josh Reaume

35 Carlos Contreras

36 Ryan Ellis

37 Harrison Rhodes

38 Josh Wise

39 Blake Koch

40 Matt DiBenedetto

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Donny Schatz edges Kyle Larson for Outlaws victory at Lake Ozark

Trent Gower/World of Outlaws
By Nate RyanMay 30, 2020, 11:30 PM EDT
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Donny Schatz made a last-lap pass on Kyle Larson, snatching a World of Outlaws victory Saturday night at Lake Ozark Speedway.

Larson started on the pole, led 30 of 35 laps and was in control until a caution set up a two-lap shootout to the finish before a limited crowd in Eldon, Missouri.

Schatz and Larson traded the lead twice over the final two laps, but the 10-time champion emerged with his first victory since the NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series returned in mid-May from a two-month layoff because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

‘THEY’VE STUCK BEHIND ME’: Kyle Larson comments on future, Outlaws plans

“Man, I don’t know what to say, but Kyle’s a damn good racer,” Schatz, who led five laps, told DirtVision after his 296th Outlaws win. “I kind of had to go where he didn’t. We got that green-white-checkered, and I decided I was going to send it. He decided the same thing.

Donny Schatz celebrates at Lake Ozark Speedway after his second Outlaws Sprint Car victory of the season (Trent Gower).

“I’m glad to get the win. It feels like it’s been forever. I’ve been out here 24 years, and every night is a learning experience still.”

Larson finished second in his fifth start since he began racing with the Outlaws after being suspended from NASCAR.

“Obviously, it would have been nice to get the win,” Larson said on DirtVision. “I figured Donny would rip the middle. The restarts before, he’d almost clear me in (turns) 3 and 4. I should have known to protect and block his momentum. I felt I exited 2 OK. We don’t have spotters or rearview mirrors so you can’t see how close he is or really hear it when the pace is so slow.

“I just didn’t do a good enough job to run a smarter final couple of laps.”

Brad Sweet, Larson’s brother in law, finished third, with Shane Stewart and David Gravel rounding out the top five.

Larson rebounded from a 10th in Friday’s feature at Lake Ozark Speedway, continuing his streak of top-10 finishes in all five of his starts since the Outlaws’ return.

“We got our car a lot better from last night, so that was a plus,” said Larson, who finished second and first in back-to-back nights last week at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at Pevely, Missouri. “These guys are really tough. To be on the podium with Donny and Brad, they’ve won lots of big races and championships, it’s nice. I just didn’t do what I needed to do that last restart.”

Larson nearly had a flawless night Saturday, turning a 11.426-second lap to capture his second pole position this season and won the pole dash to start first in the feature.

Larson, who was fired by Chip Ganassi Racing from his NASCAR Cup Series ride last month for using a racial slur in an iRacing event, said last week that he plans to run several more NOS Energy Sprint Car Series races this year.

Larson remains indefinitely suspended by NASCAR but was approved to race by the Outlaws after completing sensitivity training.