Keselowski Wins Chase Opener at Chicagoland

Brad Keselowski used his Roush Yates horsepower to complete a three-wide pass at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday to win the opening race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. The victory automatically advances him and Team Penske into the second round of the 10-race Championship battle.

Keselowski took the lead off turn two on lap 252 of 267 in the MyAFibStore.com 400. He was able to easily pull away from the field at the 1.5 mile track while Kevin Harvick and Kyle Larson had their hands full trying to hold off Jeff Gordon. This is Keselowski’s second consecutive win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

“I had my head down doing all I could do,” said Keselowski, who came to Chicagoland as the number 1 seed in the chase. “We had a great Miller Lite Ford Fusion that I knew from the start would be good, but, man, it was really awesome the last few runs. We really dialed it in and the 2 crew did an excellent job. What a day!”

Sunday’s win is the first for Ford Racing at Chicagoland Speedway. As Team Penske celebrated in Victory Lane, Keselowski moved his name to the next round on the Chase grid, which will eliminate four drivers every third race under NASCAR’s new format.

“We’re going to continue to work hard,” said Paul Wolfe, crew chief for the number 2 Ford Fusion. “We’re not going to go on vacation here for the next two weeks. We’re going to continue to try to make our race cars better and be prepared really well for Round 2. Maybe we can look at the strategy a little different, maybe roll the dice a little more and go for a win.”

Team Penske teammate Joey Logano had a solid fourth place finish in his number 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford. Team owner Roger Penske was proud to have both of his drivers finish in the top four as they contend for the 2014 Sprint Cup Championship.

“As you look at the new format, the first thing we wanted to do was get a win for one of our cars so we’re automatically in the next round. That happened today,” said Penske. “I think the relationship we’ve developed now with Ford after the second year has really paid off because they’re committed to see us get the best.”

Keselowski has won five races so far this season. This is Ford Racing and Roush Yates Engines’ 11th win in 2014, which ties for the most for Ford Racing in a single season since 2008.

Roush Yates Engines PR