“I was kinda worried
because Dexter was so fast on restarts,” admitted Keselowski. We weren’t as quick as him on the restarts and really
weren’t getting up to speed until the backstretch. I knew though that if I could hold him off through two and stay smooth
he wouldn’t catch us.”
“It sounds funny
and you’ll rarely hear a driver say it, but we almost had too much power,” Keselowski further explained when asked
about his relatively large margin of victory. “All I had to do was stay smooth, conserve my tires, and be patient getting
through lapped traffic.
Keselowski who was “wicked
loose” as he put it at the beginning of the race pitted many laps before the other drivers. Although planning to pit
again, the numerous cautions conserved his fuel while his skillful handling of the car conserved the tires making another
stop unnecessary. After taking the lead on lap 87 when the rest of the cars on the lead lap pitted Keselowski was never really
challenged until that one brief lap at the end of the race previously described. His win marked the first time in 80 ARCA
races held at Salem Speedway that a father and son have won. Bob Keselowski, 1989 ARCA RE/MAX Series champion won at Salem in 1987.
The two have also each won in Berlin Michigan.
Racing excitement was not lacking
in the closing laps behind Keselowski however. Michael McDowell, Brett Hudson, and Ken Schrader, kept everyone out of their
seats in a hard fought three way battle for third place. Lap after lap through three restarts the trio battled hard for the
position. The few times contact was made were unintentional. Fans and media alike were so caught up in the battle that the
checkered flag came as an almost unwelcome surprise. McDowell prevailed to keep 3rd with Hudson
grabbing the 4th spot leaving Schrader to finish 5th. Seventeen year old sensation James Buescher had his ARCA undefeated
streak snapped and had to settle for 6th. In two ARCA starts Buescher has impressed ARCA followers with 1st and 6th place
finishes. Brewco’s Phillip McGilton maintained his ROTY lead with a solid 7th place finish while Bryan Silas survived
many brushes with fate to finish 8th. Billy Venturini had a disappointing 9th place finish in what may be his last race of
the season unless sponsorship is found while Justin Allgaier’s 10th place effort propelled him into the series Point
Championship lead.
2006 StockCar Review.
