Keselowski Wins Ford 300, but Stenhouse Charges to Championship

Photo Courtesy of NASCAR and Getty Images

HOMESTEAD, FL – RIS – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. clinched his first Nationwide Championship early as drivers dropped out of the race, but couldn’t quite get past Brad Keselowski for the win in the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  After it was mathematically impossible for anyone to beat him for the championship, Stenhouse charged to the front.  Keselowski held him off for the win, but the celebration began for Stenhouse and for Ford Motor Company.

“We sure tried to win both," Stenhouse said. "That was all I had. Brad did a great job. It was fun racing Carl and those guys,” he said. “This is a dream come true.

“There was a lot of hard work by all these guys. This crew didn't give up on me – they didn't give up on me last year when I almost lost my job.”

Keselowski wasn’t about to give up either.

“Right there at the end, I had the power on the restart and I was blocking as hard as I could to win that race. It's a great way to finish the year,” Keselowski said.

The race also clinched the owner’s championship for Roush-Fenway Racing and Ford.  Earlier, they had clinched the manufacturer’s championship, giving the company somewhat of a triple crown in the Nationwide Series.

The title in hand, Stenhouse stepped up his effort as the race unfolded. After the sixth caution, for Steve Wallace's spin in Turn 1, Stenhouse passed fourth-place finisher Clint Bowyer for the lead on Lap 155 and began to pull away. But teammate Trevor Bayne scraped the wall and cut his right rear tire to put the field under yellow again on Lap 174.

Pit stops under caution shuffled the field, and a problem with lug nuts on the right rear tire dropped Edwards back to sixth. Moments after a restart on Lap 180, however, Edwards rocketed into second place and went on to secure the owners' championship for the No. 60 Ford.

Keselowski grabbed the lead on that same restart and stayed out front until Reed Sorenson's spin in Turn 2 slowed the field for the eighth time.

Edwards passed Keselowski for the top spot on a Lap 187 restart, but the race didn't stay green for long. Separate incidents on Lap 188 involving Danica Patrick and Kenny Wallace brought out the ninth caution, and Edwards led the field back to green on Lap 194, before Keselowski made the winning pass shortly after the restart.

The new champion refused to take full credit for what he had accomplished, and recited a long list of those who helped him get to the top of the Nationwide Series.

“It is unbelievable. There are a lot of people that have worked really hard for this,” Stenhouse said.  “My family has sacrificed a lot. Jack Roush and all these guys on our team, they were with us when we were struggling and they never gave up last year. Everybody at Ford Racing, Blackwell Angus Beef and Cargill, everybody has worked really hard and rallied together to be a team effort. Our cars back at the shop are phenomenal and all the guys that work hard there. Everybody at Roush Yates engines. It is a total team effort and it means the world to bring this championship to Jack and be a little bit of the history that he has in this sport. For Ford to get the manufacturers and Jack to get the owners it was for sure a huge team effort. Mike Kelley never let us down. He rallied us, even when we weren’t good and I would get a little mad out there on the race track he straightened me up and helped us keep digging.”

Final Unofficial Results – Ford 300 – Homestead-Miami Spjeedway:

Unofficial Race Results for the 17Th Annual Ford 300 - Saturday, November 19, 2011
Homestead-Miami Speedway - Homestead, FL - 1.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 300 Miles - Purse: $1,269,849

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 1 22 Brad Keselowski(i) Discount Tire Dodge 200 0 133.4 $75,450 Running 4 66
2 4 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Blackwell Angus Ford 200 43 1 124.3 $75,193 Running 1 22
3 3 60 Carl Edwards(i) Fastenal/Wypall Ford 200 0 138.5 $50,825 Running 5 87
4 6 33 Clint Bowyer(i) Rheem Heating Cooling & Water Heating Chevrolet 200 0 115.0 $38,625 Running 2 9
5 7 18 Denny Hamlin(i) Z-Line Designs Toyota 200 0 107.4 $31,775 Running
6 2 2 Elliott Sadler OneMain Financial Chevrolet 200 39 1 104.1 $33,893 Running 1 7
7 13 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Alliance Truck Parts Dodge 200 38 1 103.4 $21,625 Running 1 3
8 10 88 Aric Almirola Grand Touring Vodka/Hard Rock Chevrolet 200 36 98.7 $27,218 Running
9 11 11 Brian Scott Shore Lodge Toyota 200 35 92.1 $28,443 Running
10 9 20 Joey Logano(i) GameStop/Afterglow Toyota 200 0 95.1 $19,725 Running
11 8 16 Trevor Bayne Ford Mustang Ford 200 34 1 107.9 $24,593 Running 1 2
12 14 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Chevrolet 200 32 88.6 $23,443 Running
13 5 31 Justin Allgaier Brandt Chevrolet 200 31 90.0 $23,993 Running
14 19 32 James Buescher(i) Dollar General Chevrolet 200 0 76.4 $22,843 Running
15 21 70 David Stremme(i) Foretravel Chevrolet 200 0 82.8 $25,283 Running 1 3
16 22 97 Joe Nemechek AM/FM Energy Pellet & Wood Stoves Toyota 200 28 75.0 $16,810 Running
17 17 19 Mike Bliss Bruvado Chevrolet 200 27 77.6 $22,418 Running
18 29 51 Jeremy Clements Clements Racing Engines Chevrolet 200 26 70.3 $22,503 Running
19 15 62 Michael Annett Pilot/Flying J Toyota 200 26 1 79.2 $22,143 Running 1 1
20 31 01 Mike Wallace I Hate Steven Singer Chevrolet 200 24 65.0 $22,758 Running
21 33 15 Timmy Hill # Poynt/Lilly Trucking Ford 200 23 60.4 $22,923 Running
22 37 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Tia Rosa Chevrolet 200 22 66.7 $21,813 Running
23 18 81 Blake Koch # Daystar.com Chevrolet 199 21 65.4 $22,078 Running
24 35 30 Nelson Piquet Jr.(i) Bienvenidos a NASCAR Chevrolet 198 0 55.8 $21,568 Running
25 23 82 Reed Sorenson Foametix/Bullet Liner Dodge 198 19 59.7 $15,590 Running
26 36 87 Kevin Conway Extenze Toyota 198 18 50.0 $21,303 Running
27 20 04 Casey Roderick Go Green Racing Ford 198 17 45.9 $15,120 Running
28 40 40 TJ Duke Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet 198 16 43.7 $14,605 Running
29 34 14 Eric McClure Hefty BlackOut/Reynolds Chevrolet 197 15 42.2 $20,968 Running
30 42 28 Derrike Cope MAXelence Dodge 195 14 37.7 $21,158 Running
31 32 41 Stanton Barrett Barcode Media/MyBrokenPalace.com Chevrolet 194 13 43.8 $14,280 Running
32 12 7 Danica Patrick GoDaddy.com Chevrolet 190 12 67.5 $20,633 Accident
33 16 09 Kenny Wallace Federated Auto Parts Toyota 187 11 73.0 $20,578 Accident
34 27 66 Steve Wallace 5-hour Energy Toyota 146 10 41.2 $20,513 Accident
35 41 52 Kevin Lepage Sunshine Plumbing Supplies Chevrolet 136 9 36.6 $14,010 Rear Gear
36 24 67 Andrew Ranger Go Canada Racing Ford 91 8 53.4 $13,975 Accident
37 30 03 Scott Riggs McKinney Pipe and Steel Chevrolet 15 7 40.6 $13,910 Overheating
38 43 46 Chase Miller Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet 10 6 37.6 $13,825 Rear Gear
39 25 47 Josh Wise Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet 4 5 35.9 $13,735 Electrical
40 28 71 Matt Carter Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 4 4 34.3 $13,700 Vibration
41 26 42 Scott Speed Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet 3 3 33.0 $13,625 Overheating
42 38 39 Fain Skinner Carport Empire Ford 2 2 31.4 $20,043 Accident
43 39 89 Morgan Shepherd Victory In Jesus Chevrolet 1 1 30.0 $19,974 Engine