LACETT | Keselowski wins again at Kentucky

Brad Keselowski became the first three-time victor at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night, overtaking Kevin Harvick on Lap 201 and holding on to win the Sprint Cup Quaker State 400.

Carl Edwards had a strong second-place finish at Kentucky on Saturday night. Keselowski’s tank eventually ran dry and he needed a tow to victory lane. Brad Keselowski won his 2nd straight Sprint Cup race by dominating the Quaker State 400 at the Kentucky Motor Speedway. “It was worth the gamble”.

“We went out and we set a really fast pace there on that restart and was just using fuel, and then it became obvious that you were gonna have to save fuel at the end, but I already used so much”, Keselowski said.

Tony Stewart, making his 600th career start and needing quality finishes to make the Chase, finished fifth.

All of his Kentucky wins have come in even-numbered years – the others came in 2012 and 2014 – and his latest triumph on the 1.5 mile tri-oval might have been his most impressive in terms of strategy.

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 1 and 2. Harvick led the most laps with 94 of his 128 coming in the first half of the race. With 11 cautions, the race narrowly avoided setting a new record for most cautions at the track.

The penalty did not deter Truex as he worked his way back up to the top three under green-flag conditions before pit stops in the closing stages of the race.

Simon Pagenaud will start on the pole for the fifth time this season at Sunday’s IndyCar series race at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa.

AJ Allmendinger will require precautionary x-rays after hitting the wall on lap 172, the JTG Daugherty driver having rejoined the race following extensive repairs after being caught up in the night’s biggest crash – a seven-car pile-up – 83 laps earlier. As a result, the race field was set by auto owner points, putting Kevin Harvick on the pole and Brad Keselowski next to him on the front row.

NHRA: Matt Hagan drove to the Funny Car qualifying lead at the K&N Filters Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Ill.

LATE FRIDAY: Kyle Busch led 185 laps and won the NASCAR Xfinity series Alsco 300. It was his second in a row and fourth of the season.

Brittany Force (Top Fuel), Shane Gray (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were the top qualifiers for their classes.

He first lost the top spot when Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kurt Busch made up track position after starting in the back of the field by staying out during a competition caution on lap 26. Beckman momentarily held the top position following a run of 3.885 at a track record speed of 333.25 in his Dodge Charger.