Points leader Brad Keselowski made it back-to-back victories with a brilliant move late at Chicagoland Speedway Sunday. Keselowski went through the middle, three-wide between Kevin Harvick and Kyle Larson and never looked back for his fifth win this season, tying his career season high set in his 2012 championship year.
Before a caution came out with 35 laps to go, Keselowski went from eighth to fourth after a round of green-flag pit stops and the caution let the 2012 champ close up on the leaders. Larson appeared to have the best car towards the end, but Harvick remained side-by-side with the Cup rookie for a few laps after a restart with 18 laps to go, allowing Keselowski to make the bold move coming out of Turn 2 on lap 252.
Another caution would bunch up the field, as the battle for second took place between Larson and Jeff Gordon. The four-time champ prevailed and the same drivers who finished 1-2 at Richmond finished in the same place at Chicagoland.
Keselowski started from the 25th position after qualifying was rained out and set on practice speeds. It was a good day for Penske Racing cars, as Joey Logano came home in the fourth position. Logano had a piece of trash on the grille in the final few laps and the car started to smoke after taking the checkered flag. Another Ford driver, Aric Almirola, had a strong run going until the engine let go with 37 laps to go. The Richard Petty Motorsports driver sits in the basement of the Chase standings, but still has time to make up the lost ground until Dover in two weeks.
Two drivers made incredible comebacks on the day. Martin Truex, Jr. was two laps down at one point in the race as Ryan Newman was three and both finished 14th and 15th on the lead lap respectively. Newman was one of a number of Chase drivers who ran into bad luck at one point in the race. The Indiana driver had a tire go down, but fought his way back to score the Top-15 finish.
Race winner Keselowski had a loose wheel after one pit stop during a caution on lap 182 and came back in to fix it. Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth both spun trying to enter pit road at different times during the race. Both drivers finished in the top 10. Kasey Kahne had a speeding penalty on pit road, but came home in the 13th position. Jeff Gordon was the only Hendrick driver to finish in the top 10. Chase drivers were eight of the top 10, with Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray, the only non-Chasers, finishing third and ninth respectively. Larson started in the rear and fought his way up to battle for the win. Kevin Harvick led the most laps on the day with 79 and finished fifth.
The win for Keselowski punches him a ticket into the next Chase round. It was also the only win for Ford on the weekend at Chicagoland, as Chevrolet (NNS) and Toyota (Trucks) took the other races on Saturday Penske Racing now has eight Cup wins on the season, the most since Rusty Wallace scored as many in 1994.
The Chicagoland winner has finished no worse than second in the points the last three seasons. Tony Stewart (2011) and Keselowski (2012) went on to win the championships after winning there.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads next to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Sylvania 300. Matt Kenseth is the defending winner of the race and Brad Keselowski won there in July.
MyAFibStory.com 400 Top 10
1. #2 Brad Keselowski
2. #24 Jeff Gordon
3. #42 Kyle Larson
4. #22 Joey Logano
5. #4 Kevin Harvick
6. #11 Denny Hamlin
7. #18 Kyle Busch
8. #41 Kurt Busch
9. #1 Jamie McMurray
10. #20 Matt Kenseth
- Newman’s magical night not meant to be - November 17, 2014
- Kenseth returns to victory lane, Penske wins owner’s title - November 16, 2014
- Penske powers to top spot, Keselowski on pole - November 15, 2014