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BUSCH: Darlington: Jason Keller race notes

Keller Disappointed With Rollercoaster Day at Darlington (Darlington, S.C.) -- Saturday's Diamond Hill Plywood 200 was to be Keller's big day in front of his hometown crowd. The Traveler's Rest native grew up racing go-karts and late models ...

Edited: Apr 16, 2008, 12:40 AM

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Keller Disappointed With Rollercoaster Day at Darlington

(Darlington, S.C.) -- Saturday's Diamond Hill Plywood 200 was to be Keller's big day in front of his hometown crowd. The Traveler's Rest native grew up racing go-karts and late models just miles down the road from Darlington Raceway. After starting 15th and finishing 13th in his battle against the track "Too Tough to Tame," Keller battled an ill-handling race car for most of the 200 laps.

"Our finish was certainly not a reflection of what this team is capable of. We know we have some areas to work in and we are going to continue to work on them. We rebounded from some early set backs and came back to have a decent finish," Keller said.

The "Lady in Black" proved to be even more of a challenge with the narrow racing groove set in place by the new SAFER walls. Keller had this to say about the way the new safety measures affected the style of racing. "It definitely affected the way we race at this track, but any race track that is going to make the racing safer for the drivers, is fine with me. No matter how much it may affect the ability to pass."

Keller would have to overcome several obstacles throughout the day, including a mishap on pit road that put him in the back of the field in 26th position. After crew chief, Wes Ward made several adjustments to try and alleviate the tight handling race car; Keller slowly began to make his way to the front of the field in the closing laps of the Diamond Hill Plywood 200. During the final 47 laps, Keller managed to gain eight positions on the race track to bring his No. 22 Miller High Life Ford home in 13th position.

Although the weekend didn't prove to be the dominating performance Keller was looking for at his hometown track, he credits his crew for overcoming a number of obstacles and rebounding to a top-fifteen finish. Keller's ready to put Darlington in his rear view mirror and is looking forward to driving the high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend where he has one win, three poles and 10 top-ten finishes.

-ppc-

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