Thread by @keselowski

Proud to be a part of the number 1 spot here. Wish it was a win...

Anyone want to see a tweet storm from my POV on this last lap?

https://twitter.com/nateryan/status/1207690633579773954

First a must watch video recap for those that don’t know and for me to reference. 😊

1). We had phenomenal cars at @WGI in 2011-2014. Unfortunately we didn’t win any of those 3 in part because Marcos and Kyle were a little better than me and from some circumstances.

In the end, we scored 3- 2nd place finishes in a row. I’m still proud of that to this day.

2). In this race particularly, I over drove the car earlier trying to stay ahead of the 18 & 9 cars. The tires fell off and we just couldn’t keep up. Since their was no pressure behind us, I fell back 3 seconds from the lead to save the tires and see if they’d fall back to me.

3). With 2 to go I could see the 9&18 falling back to us. We weren’t going any faster but they were rapidly slowing down. This was our chance to strike.

The 9 car got loose through the esses and we were there; again in the bus stop and we were by. I was stoked for a good finish.

4). I just passed one of the all time great road racers in @MarcosAmbrose , “don’t let him back by,” I remember thinking.

As we went through the next 2 corners, the white flag was flying & we had a decent gap in my mirror. 1 lap to go, “smooth and no mistakes,” I said to myself

5). @DaleJr had been between Kyle and I, so it wasn’t till he let us all by that I was able to clear my focus from the 9 to look ahead. Then I realized we had also gained 2+ seconds on the 18 in 2 laps!

This didn’t seem right, I immediately thought he must have a major problem.

6). As we dove down into turn 1 for the final lap I had a tough decision to make. My tires were wore down, the car in front of me was getting closer and he may also have a problem; how hard do I charge this corner?

In a split second the choice was made,
I slowed down way early.

7). With today’s cars, track and tires; slowing down early would have been a critical error more often than not. Back then, it was key to be able to adapt.

The decision was a good one, all the cars around me slid off turn 1 and lost tons of time. I barely made the corner...

8). The success of the maneuver aside, I screamed a self deprecating expletive at myself for not driving harder.

Their was no time to think about why that worked, the 18 is now right in front of me and off the track. 3 seconds gained in 2 laps and now we have a shot to win!

9). Kyle was off the track and slow ahead of me and to my left. Had he broke? Just missed the corner? I had no idea but we were gaining on him rapidly. He merged on the track slow and in front of me as we entered turn 2.

What happened next added 🔥 to our feud for years to come

10). I committed to turn 2 in a low line as Kyle merged simultaneously in front of me and off the pace. We made contact and the 18 spun. To this day, many people think I took him out. Intentionally

This isn’t how I felt or feel but it’s part of the story nonetheless.

11). I still feel like it was 2 cars going for the same lane and 1 was off pace. Like merging on a freeway, it’s the slower merging cars responsibility to merge safely.

In this case, that wasn’t me... I drove in hard and he came from off the track, down 3 lanes and into us. 🤷🏼‍♂️

12). Driving away from the accident scene it was immediately obvious that we had sustained major damage to the LF corner of the car. Smoke was pouring into the cockpit and we were in trouble.

A quick check of my mirror off the esses confirmed my suspicion. The 9 car was on us.

13). As we drove down the long back stretch flashes of the 2011 race where Marcos passed us there went though my mind. I knew that Marcos would bury it down into the corner and try to get beside me. Unlike turn 1, I had to attack the corner or risk getting run over from behind.

14). Deep into the interloop braking zone I knew something was wrong, we weren’t slowing down! “I’ve thrown away this race,” I thought as it became clear the dirt in the runoff was my only option to avoid spinning the car out.

“How stupid am I?!?!” flashed through my mind.

15). To my total surprise, Marcos was not by me, or even beside us. It was in this moment the light bulbs in my head began to flicker. “He’s went off too, it’s the track! Somethings on it!”

Right behind us he lingered as we entered the @WGI carousel for the final time.

16). This particular day was very overcast, additionally the track was very dirty from a full day’s racing. This combination made it almost impossible to see oil for both the drivers and spotters.

It wasn’t until 3 corners were left that I knew the track was fully oiled down.

17). The track had become oiled down from the 47 car who had a part failure causing a progressively worse leakage rate around the track. This meant the final few corners would be the worst.

I tip toed into the carousel, “no need to make the same mistake twice,” I thought.

18). This corner was way bad with oil. With the 9 car sensing blood in the water he charged hard into the corner as I drove soft on entry.

Divinely, He would slide out of control but this time not into dirt, but rather clean and grippy asphalt as this corner had a wide runoff.

19). As the 9 car struggled for grip even more mightily than I, all of the sudden the clean asphalt of the 2nd lane momentarily grabbed his tires and away he launched with great speed; right Into my back bumper as I crept through the corner out of control.

20). Any chance of getting away from him over the final 2 corners was now gone. As I struggled from the contact he drove by barely clearing us into turn 10. The next to last corner...

“What a little shove back quickly passed through my mind?” And was soon delivered with a grin😊

21). The push was another perfect accident. This corner 2 with superb run off had no oil and amazing grip. I was only able to barely get right beside him while slipping in the oil.

1 more corner left to go, I’m in a dead heat with the world’s best road course driver for the win.

22). In the final turn, a moment of jubilation struck. I could see that all the corners had oil in the bottom lanes. Although we were in a dead heat, I was on the outside and sure to have that cleaner asphalt that Marcos put to good use in the last 2 corners before...

23). “We got this!!!” Ran through my veins as we entered the turn. With no oil in my lane, Surely he will slip and I’ll drive off.

Unfortunately the 47 car had oiled the outer lane in this last corner only and it wasn’t meant to be. I slipped and almost crashed, the 9 car won.

24). Takeaways- This race will live in lore forever. Being an integral part of the best voted nascar race of the decade is quite an honor.

Another 2nd place.

Kyle would miss out on the win and miss the chase (playoffs). Our relationship consequently added another sad chapter.