Keselowski wins for 3rd time at Kentucky Speedway

Chevrolet went into this year’s Quaker State 400 winless at Kentucky Speedway in Sprint Cup competition.

With his lead evaporating and his fuel tank near empty, the undaunted driver made his way to the checkered flag Saturday night at peace with his fate and the probability of an unsatisfying finish.

Harvick immediately complained over his in vehicle radio that Truex Jr. passed on the left, which is a violation.

The final fuel run gave Paul Wolfe, Keselowski’s crew chief, the jitters.

Brad Keselowski became the first three-time victor at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night, overtaking Kevin Harvick on lap 201 and holding on for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Quaker State 400 victory in Sparta, Ky. “By running out, I mean it stumbled really, really bad, and I was able to just somehow limp it around the last two laps and stay ahead of Carl and bring her home”.

“You’re definitely cautious just because you don’t know where the limits are, and every time you go out you push or see something you haven’t done before”, Harvick said. “But there’s nothing you can about it, and freaking out ain’t going to help anything”. He has won two of the five races at Kentucky with an average finish of 3.8 at the track.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever had that [happen]”, Keselowski said of his post-race escort by tow truck into Victory Lane.

Biffle finished sixth behind Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch. The three-time series champion is retiring after this season. His 739 laps led in five races are 596 more than any other driver, and he has led the most laps in three straight races at 1.5-mile ovals.

“We were a few laps short and burned a lot of fuel getting back up there and the thought process was that we needed to get some fuel”, said Truex. “He waited. He basically shut the auto off and went right of (Turn) 4 and matched it perfectly to where I couldn’t get him down the front straightaway”. Last year, we came here, I thought we were the best vehicle, didn’t catch a single break, didn’t execute, and those two things kept us out of victory lane.

“I thought the new aero package would open it up past year”, Simendinger said, “but lo and behold Keselowski and Busch were there and I suspect it might be that way again because their organizations have been so good”.

Keselowski clearly got a lot from his tires and setup, both of which were important on the resurfaced and reconfigured track featuring higher banking in turns and 1 and 2. NASCAR also has implemented a new rules package reducing downforce and side force in hopes of creating more side-by-side racing. Harvick led the most laps with 94 of his 128 coming in the first half of the race.

Keselowski guided his Ford past Harvick’s Chevy on lap 201 after the race record-tying 11th caution. “You’re just on pins and needles all the time on restarts, like ‘uhhhh, I don’t want to lose any ground.’ Boy, if I have a big slip, I’m going to lose all kinds of track position, which happened over and over”.

Accidents were the story early on. Some notable names were collected, including Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano and rookie Chase Elliott. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford blew a right front tire on Lap 53 and crashed into the wall.

“I didn’t think the outside would carry the speed as much as the inside and Erik Jones proved me wrong”, Busch said. After some instances of blistering during a test last month, Goodyear changed course on the tire compound for the Kentucky race, trading grip and faster wear for more durable rubber.