Keselowski Wins Rain-Delayed Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard

Brad Keselowski celebrates his Brickyard victory

Photo Credit: RIS/IN Don Anderson

SPEEDWAY, IN - RIS - Brad Keselowski outraced Denny Hamlin from Turn 2 through Turns 3 and 4 for the final lead change on lap 159 of the 2018 Big Machine Vodka 400 at The Brickyard after a late race caution.  This was Keselowski's second win in a row, solidifying his positioning for the playoffs which start next week and also secured car owner Roger Penske his first NASCAR win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  Keselowski took advantage of multiple late race cautions and fresher tires to position himself for the pass for the race win.  Hamlin said, "Those cautions killed us at the end, allowed those guys with fresher tires to get up there."

The overall playoff picture did not change significantly as all 16 drivers above the line maintained their position within the playoff structure.  Kyle Busch won the regular season championship along with the 15 playoff points for doing so.  Kyle Busch (2,050), Kevin Harvick (2,050) and Martin Truex, Jr. (2,035) will start the playoffs almost an entire race's worth of points ahead of the rest of the playoff field. 

The second tier of playoff contenders (Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, and Kurt Busch) range from 2,019 to 2,014 points.  The remaining contenders have from 2,000 to 2,008 points for the playoffs.  Only Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman did not have a spot clinched before this race and since no driver behind them won today's race, they secured their playoff position.  Jimmie Johnson remains the only driver to qualify for all the playoffs since NASCAR changed the championship format back in 2004.

Keselowski's victory gives Team Penske a sweep of the IndyCar and NASCAR's major series races at IMS, with Will Power conquering the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500 this past May. 

NASCAR postponed yesterday's race until today after Mother Nature provided more rain than the racing community could safely take on Sunday. 

Unofficial Race Results for the 25Th Annual Big Machine Vodka 400 At The Brickyard - September 10, 2018 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Speedway, IN - 2.5 Mile Paved

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 6, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 160, 6, 7, 2, 9, 5, 49, Running
2) 13, Erik Jones, No. 20 buyatoyota.com Toyota, 160, 10, 3, , , , 44, Running
3) 10, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Possibilities Toyota, 160, 3, , 2, 37, , 42, Running
4) 2, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Jimmy John's New 9-Grain Wheat Sub Ford, 160, , , 1, 22, , 33, Running
5) 8, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Mobil 1/Rush Truck Centers Ford, 160, 1, , 3, 37, 1, 42, Running
6) 4, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, 160, 2, 5, 2, 19, , 46, Running
7) 21, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Cessna/McDonald's Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 30, Running
8) 1, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Caramel Toyota, 160, 5, , 2, 27, , 35, Running
9) 19, Paul Menard, No. 21 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford, 160, 8, , , , , 31, Running
10) 17, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Grainger Chevrolet, 160, , 9, , , , 29, Running
11) 9, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 BODYARMOR Ford, 160, , , 1, 1, , 26, Running
12) 29, Matt Kenseth, No. 6 Wyndham Rewards Ford, 160, , 1, 1, 5, 1, 35, Running
13) 5, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 160, , 4, , , , 31, Running
14) 7, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, 160, 4, , , , , 30, Running
15) 11, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 160, 9, 2, , , , 33, Running
16) 14, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, 160, , 10, , , , 22, Running
17) 26, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Race For Riley Ford, 160, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 20, Daniel Suarez, No. 19 STANLEY Toyota, 160, , 6, , , , 24, Running
19) 22, William Byron #, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 160, , 8, 1, 3, , 21, Running
20) 27, Regan Smith, No. 95 WRL General Contractors Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 30, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 18, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow MOLYKOTE Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 12, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 159, 7, , , , , 18, Running
24) 25, David Ragan, No. 38 MDS Transport Ford, 159, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 23, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Bush's Beans Chevrolet, 158, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 32, Ross Chastain(i), No. 15 Low T Centers Chevrolet, 158, , , , , , 0, Running
27) 33, Corey LaJoie, No. 72 ARK.io Blockchain Solutions Chevrolet, 158, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 38, * Reed Sorenson, No. 7 Chevrolet, 158, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 35, JJ Yeley(i), No. 23 Toyota, 157, , , , , , 0, Running
30) 40, * BJ McLeod(i), No. 52 Jacob Companies Ford, 157, , , , , , 0, Running
31) 34, Landon Cassill(i), No. 00 StarCom Fiber Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 0, Accident
32) 37, * Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 96 iK9/Xtreme Concepts Inc. Toyota, 150, , , , , , 5, Accident
33) 15, Alex Bowman, No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet, 142, , , , , , 4, Running
34) 16, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 John Deere Ford, 136, , , , , , 3, Engine
35) 39, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 Ternio Toyota, 124, , , , , , 0, Fuel Pump
36) 31, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Anest Iwata Ford, 89, , , , , , 1, Rear End
37) 24, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 66, , , , , , 1, Accident
38) 28, Bubba Wallace #, No. 43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet, 57, , , , , , 1, Accident
39) 36, David Starr(i), No. 51 Jacob Companies Chevrolet, 57, , , , , , 0, Accident
40) 3, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota, 41, , , , , , 1, Brakes
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (*) non-charter team

Race Comments: Brad Keselowski won the Big Machine Vodka 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, his 27th victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 78 and 19 (inspection infraction), No. 00 and 51 (unapproved adjustments) and No. 95 (pitting before green).
Total Race Length - 160 Laps - 400 Miles
Time of Race: 03 Hrs, 06 Mins, 35 Secs.
Average Speed: 128.629 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.904 Seconds
Caution Flags: 10 for 39 laps: Laps: 12-14 (Competition Caution [66]);
32-34 (Competition Caution [51]);
42-45 (No. 78 Incident in Turn 1 [66]);
52-55 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]);
59-65 (No. 43, 51, 52 Incident in Turn 3 [None]);
68-70 (No. 47 and 88 Incident in Turn 3 [None]);
77-79 (No. 23 Spin in Turn 2 [None]);
102-105 (Stage 2 Conclusion [7]);
144-148 (Debris on the frontstretch [13]);
155-157 (No. 00 and 96 Incident in Turn 3 [3]).
Lead Changes: 14 among 9 drivers: Kyle Busch 1-11;
D. Hamlin 12-32;
Kurt Busch 33-44;
C. Bowyer 45-51;
Kyle Busch 52-67;
K. Harvick 68-89;
C. Bowyer 90-96;
M. Kenseth 97-101;
W. Byron # 102-104;
C. Bowyer 105-127;
R. Blaney 128;
Kurt Busch 129-135;
B. Keselowski 136-142;
D. Hamlin 143-158;
B. Keselowski 159-160.
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Clint Bowyer, No. 14 
Fastest Lap: Kevin Harvick, No. 4 
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Toyota Racing Development (TRD), No. 11 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: William Byron, No. 24

John Hanna

Has been an RIS contributor for over 20 years.  John retired from the Ohio Army National Guard as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2015.

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Volume 2018, Issue 8, Posted 5:57 PM, 09.10.2018