Unser Chat » straightaway to earn his fourth victory in nine starts

CONCORD, N.C. - Brad Keselowski thought he was in for a long night when a tire went down and he scraped the wall on lap 55 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.It was a night of adversity to start and we all got really nervous, Keselowski said.But once Keselowski settled down, the No. 22 Ford battled back to the front, passing teammate Ryan Blaney with 12 laps to go to win the Nationwide Series race Friday night.Keselowski passed Blaney on the outside on the straightaway to earn his fourth victory in nine starts this year and 31st Nationwide Series win of his career. That ties him with Jack Ingram for fifth on the all-time list.Winning a Nationwide race, to me the novelty of being in victory lane hasnt worn off — at least to me, Keselowski said. ... I dont take these wins for granted or take these opportunities for granted.Kyle Busch, who was won a record 69 races in the Nationwide Series, finished second. Matt Kenseth was third, Blaney finished fourth, and Kyle Larson, who won here at Charlotte earlier this year, was fifth.Chase Elliott finished ninth, extending his points lead over Regan Smith to 42. Smith finished in 11th place.Elliott started from the pole and led a portion of the race but ultimately left the track frustrated with his performance.My restarts are some of the worst you can have, Elliott said. I think I would know how to restart a race at this point. That is 100 per cent pitiful, in all honesty.Ty Dillon, who entered the night third in the standings, was involved in a six-car crash on lap 76, ending his night. He finished in 30th place and fell back to fifth place, 62 points behind Elliott.I made a bit of a mistake going four wide, Dillon said.The race included eight cautions, several the result of blown tires.I felt like we were playing prevent defence early in the race, said Keselowski. Everyone was waiting for who was the next person who was going to blow a tire. You didnt want to run slow and fall back in traffic where you couldnt make passes. But you could see everyone that ran hard kept having tire problems.Keselowskis crew chief Jeremy Bullins said: Im sure it will be on everybodys mind until they get through the first green flag run.Busch said thats something Sprint Cup drivers may need to be wary of on Saturday night.I think Cup cars tend to be harder on tires than Nationwide cars do because theyre faster down the straightaway, they land harder in the corners and whatnot, Busch said. We had issues tonight.It was a crash-filled night at Charlotte right from the start.The 200-lap, 300-mile race got off to a less-than-auspicious start with a crash on the first lap that damaged 11 cars and sent seven behind the wall, including those driven by Jeffrey Earnhardt, JJ Yeley, Matt DiBenedetto, Tanner Berryhill, Joey Gase, Jamie Dick and Will Kimmel.By the midway point of the race, only 16 of the 40 cars were on the lead lap and 13 were out of the race. Cheap Vapormax Ireland .Y. -- It was as if Matt Moulson never left the New York Islanders. Vapormax Flyknit Ebay Ireland .Y. -- First, Ryan Miller. http://www.outletvapormaxireland.com/air-foamposite-wholesale-china.html .K. Subban has picked the right time of the year to go on an offensive tear. Air Foamposite Wholesale . After rookie right-hander Alex Colome excelled in a 5-2 victory in the opener, the Rays fell to Chris Tillman and the Orioles 4-1 on Friday night. Vapormax Plus Ireland . "Today was a very great day for me. It was always my dream to be good in GS," Wierather said. "I took quite a long time to get there. It feels awesome to have my first win (in GS)." Wierather leads overall with 595 points from Lara Gut (568), who finished second, and Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany (535). SEATTLE -- Dallas Keuchel tried to deflect the praise of his manager and teammates after his second complete game in his last three starts. But there is no denying the stellar performances Keuchel has delivered over the last month. The Houston left-hander pitched a four-hitter in leading the Astros to a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday. Keuchel (6-2) struck out six, walked none and allowed just an unearned run that scored on a throwing error in the second inning. He went 8 2-3 innings in a victory over the Angels in his last start, the only thing keeping him from three straight complete games. "He is definitely in a groove right now. Its a joy to watch," manager Bo Porter said. Keuchel has been nearly unhittable in his last four starts. He has earned four victories, thrown two complete games, walked just one and struck out 28. Hes allowed just four earned runs with a 1.08 ERA over that span. "Hes been lights out," first baseman Marc Krauss said. "Hes been everything you can ask for and more lately." Keuchel said hes not trying to nibble at the strike zone anymore; an approach that cost him at times as a rookie last season. Instead, hes trying to be more aggressive with his pitches. "Im just trying to attack the zone," Keuchel said. "Im not trying to be too fine anymore. Thats what I did my rookie year and obviously I had more walks than strikeouts." "Im just trying to go out there and help the team to the best of my ability." Krauss and George Springer hit two-run homers off Hisashi Iwakuma (3-1), who allowed a season-high nine hits. Seattle took the early lead with a two-out rally in the second inning. Mike Zunino and Michael Saunders each singled to put runners on first and second. Cole Gillespie followed with a dribbler off the end of the bat up the third-base line. Keuchel fiellded the ball and threw wide of first base down the right-field line as Zunino scored.dddddddddddd Keuchel retired the next 14 batters and faced the minimum 22 batters after Gillespies single in the second. Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon wasnt as impressed with Keuchels outing. He called Keuchel "average" and put the onus on his offence for not getting the job done. "I saw average stuff," McClendon said. "We didnt swing the bats very good. At some point, youve got to stop giving credit to average pitchers. That becomes a broken record. At some point, weve got to start swinging the bats." Meanwhile, the Astros finally broke through in the sixth inning. Jose Altuve singled and Springer followed with a two-run blast to left field for his fourth homer in his last three games. It was also Springers seventh home run of the month. Krauss added his homer in the seventh to extend the lead to 4-1, matching the most runs Iwakuma allowed this season. NOTES: Houston optioned OF L.J. Hoes to Triple-A Oklahoma City following the game and recalled OF Robbie Grossman. Grossman is expected to return to the lineup as the teams every day left fielder. ... Houston C Carlos Corporan was the only Astros batter that failed to get a hit. ... Mariners OF James Jones had his streak of hits in his first 15 starts and last 14 straight games ended with a 0-for-4 performance. ... Seattle 2B Robinson Canos streak of reaching base in a career-high 31 straight games also ended with a 0-for-4 day. ... McClendon didnt rule out the possibility of LHP James Paxton rejoining the starting rotation following a rehab start for Triple-A Tacoma on Saturday night. Paxton allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts in a 62-pitch outing. Paxton has been on the disabled list since April 9 with a strained left latissimus dorsi muscle. ' ' '