Following the race, Keselowski’s crew chief, Paul Wolfe, picked up his second MOOG Chassis Parts “Problem Solver of the Race” Award from Federal-Mogul.
One of the most prestigious weekly honors in NASCAR competition, the MOOG Problem Solver Award is presented to the Sprint Cup crew chief whose car posts the largest increase in average lap speed over the second half of the race while finishing on the lead lap. Keselowski’s Dodge Challenger improved by an average of 0.577-second over each of the final 46 trips around the Glen’s challenging 2.45-mile road course.
Keselowski, who started 12th, passed Kyle Busch to take the lead during a green-white-checkered restart on Lap 91 but was unable to hold off road course specialist and eventual race winner Marcos Ambrose just two turns later. As the No. 2 car moved into position to challenge Ambrose over the final half-lap, the field was frozen due to a multi-car accident.
The second-place finish was well beyond expectations, however, as Keselowski was making only the 12th road course start of his career and was still hampered by the broken ankle sustained less than two weeks ago during an on-track test in Atlanta. The 27-year-old driver responded by winning last week’s Cup race at Pocono and quickly cracking the top 5 – and staying there – at the Glen.
“Brad told Paul and the Penske Racing crew that he was happy with the car at the start, and it was obvious they had their MOOG-equipped chassis zeroed in for today’s track and weather conditions,” said Federal-Mogul Motorsports Director Tim Nelson. “The number 2 was a very fast and great handling racecar from the moment the green flag dropped. That’s a testament to Paul’s rock-solid chassis setup and his intuitive race strategy after Sunday’s long delay.”
Wolfe’s second weekly MOOG Award of 2011 puts him just one behind leaders Bob Osborne (No. 99 Ford), Steve Letarte (No. 88 Chevrolet) and Gil Martin (No. 29 Chevrolet) in the battle for the prestigious MOOG “Problem Solver of the Year” Award.
