Keselowski gaining ground on lead just at right time

This weekend the No. 88 JR Motorsports team will visit a place driver Brad Keselowski knows well, Michigan International Speedway.

Keselowski is a native of Rochester Hills, Mich., a two-hour jaunt from the speedway. He first visited the 2-mile track as a child, including a stop in Victory Lane in 1992 after his father, Bob, won an ARCA event.

Fast facts

What	Carfax 250
When	4 p.m. ET Saturday
TV	ESPN, 3 p.m. ET
Radio	MRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 3:30 ET

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• By the Numbers: Michigan

A 2008 trip to Victory Lane in Saturday's Carfax 250 would mean big things for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s driver, as he sits second in the Nationwide Series points standings, 128 behind Clint Bowyer.

"I'm looking forward to being able to come home and show my hometown how well we've been running and how good of a team that we have," Keselowski said. "It's a big weekend for us in a lot of different ways. We still have a ways to gain ground on Clint. I think these style of tracks have been his weakness."

Keselowski, 24, finished 13th last August in his first Nationwide start at Michigan. Bowyer finished 10th for his first top-10 in three starts.

This has been a breakout year for Keselowski, who picked up his first career win in June at Nashville. He has finished outside the top 10 only twice since a 15th--place finish at Darlington in May. That consistency has helped him close on Bowyer. Five races ago, Keselowski was 202 points out of first.

"We're closing the gap on them, but we still need to close more," Keselowski said. "I'm not saying that we need to win races to do it, but we need to be in contention to win races and get top-fives and top-10s. That's what it will take to win the championship."

Which is what happened last week on the road course of Watkins Glen.

Keselowski finished sixth, his 14th top-10 of the year. Bowyer struggled, spinning in unison with Carl Edwards late. Bowyer finished 23rd and Edwards 25th, allowing Keselowski to reclaim the second position in the point standings from Edwards and gain ground on Bowyer.

"I don't know if surprised is the right word. I was shocked. It was great," Keselowski said. "I think our goal was to leave the two road-course events with solid finishes and within 200 points of Clint. Not only did we stay within 200 points but we also closed the gap on them. The whole key for us is to just keep doing what we are doing."