Unconventional strategy propels Keselowski to third-place finish; After 6th-place run, Earnhardt Jr. reflects on his legacy; Hamlin enjoys solid run, but JGR still seeks first win. No one has ever accused Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski and his #2 team of following conventional wisdom when it comes to race strategy. Even with crew chief Paul Wolfe missing Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 to be with his wife for the birth of their second child, substitute pit boss Brian Wilson took up the beat of a different drummer. That Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished sixth in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway is only slightly short of miraculous. Consider this. On Lap 14, Earnhardt lost control of his #88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet approaching Turn 11, slid through the corner and collided with Danica Patrick’s Ford. On Lap 31, Earnhardt was the meat in a three-wide sandwich entering Turn 4, with Kyle Larson dive-bombing to the inside and Danica Patrick on the outside. A chain-reaction collision sent Patrick spinning into the path of her boyfriend, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., whose Ford was damaged beyond repair. But Earnhardt persevered, and with the help of pit strategy designed to gain track position, he restarted second on Lap 55 after the conclusion of the race’s second stage. With the race running green until the final circuit (Lap 110), Earnhardt held sixth-best among Chevrolet drivers-to post his second straight top 10. Denny Hamlin’s Toyota lacked the muscle of some of the stronger cars in Sunday’s Toyota/Save mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, but the driver of the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota parlayed spot-on pit strategy and a solid performance into a fourth-place finish at the 1.99-mile road course. After finishing fourth in the race’s second stage, Hamlin stayed out on older tires and inherited the lead. All told, he was out front on two occasions for a total of 11 laps, fifth most among a race-record 10 leaders.(NASCAR Wire Service)[Read More Here]
