Keselowski Wins Kansas Cup Race in Overtime

AP Photo

KANSAS CITY, KS – RIS – Watching Brad Keselowski is sometimes like watching a wizard.  Watching him run 20th?  No problem.  Get a caution, roll in the pits, get four tires, and run down the leaders.  Pass the already anointed leader (according to the talking heads in the booth), and despite a late caution, win the race.  We’ve seen it so many times, it’s almost like it is scripted, but it’s not.  It was an exciting finish in the Monster Energy NASCAR up race at Kansas Speewy

Keselowski dealt with balance problems early in the race, never really contended with the faster cars of Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch through the first couple of stages, yet managed to get everything sorted out in time to give Team Penske a satisfying Saturday sweep.  Active and successful in Indycar racing, Team Penske won the IndyCar Grand Prix race earlier in the day with Simon Pagenaud driving.

Alex Bowman finished second for the third straight week, while Erik Jones triggered some bad blood with Kansas native Clint Bowyer by making an aggressive move that allowed him to hold onto third.

Chase Elliott dominated long stretches of the race before losing the lead to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with 22 laps to go. But after his car failed inspection twice and Elliott had to start at the back, he still managed to work his way to the front for his third consecutive top-five finish.

Bowyer rounded out the top five, though his run-in with Jones left him in no mood to celebrate.

The big question coming into the race was how NASCAR's new rules package would fare, especially after it was panned by drivers and owners alike this week. But with an overcast sky and cool temps, the package wound up producing arguably the best race of the entire Cup Series season.  Opinions will vary.

Harvick dominated early before a flat right tire with 90 laps to go got him out of pit sequence. Busch then pulled into contention and was challenging for the lead when a caution came out for Austin Dillon's lost tire with 50 laps to go, sending the leaders to the pits.

Busch wound up going through too many boxes and was sent to the back of the field.

"Sure takes the win away, doesn't it?" Busch said ruefully on his radio and television.

Stenhouse took the lead when he swung past Bowman and Elliott, and Keselowski suddenly appeared in his rearview mirror. The former Cup Series champion had been hanging around the top 10 all day but had been struggling with balance, and he seemed to find it at the perfect time.

Keselowski pulled even with seven laps to go, then held his lead on the green-white-checkered restart to win the first overtime spring race at Kansas Speedway.

"We just kept working it all night. Brad never gave up," said his crew chief, Paul Wolfe. "Brad never gave up. We fought through it and I knew once we got the balance right we could contend, and we were able to do that tonight."

Next is the All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday night with fancy new paint schemes, and different format.  It should be interesting even though the win won’t count.  I wouldn’t bet against Keselowski, though.  He and Paul Wolfe must be wizards.

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 4 2 Brad Keselowski Wurth Ford 271 7 44 Running 2 12 5
2 5 88 Alex Bowman Axalta Chevrolet 271 4 42 Running 3 63
3 6 20 Erik Jones DeWalt Toyota 271 9 3 44 Running
4 32 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 271 2 1 52 Running 5 45 1
5 2 14 Clint Bowyer Rush Truck Centers/Haas Automation Ford 271 8 8 38 Running 1 12
6 12 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet 271 31 Running
7 9 1 Kurt Busch Global Poker Chevrolet 271 5 7 40 Running 1 7
8 35 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank Chevrolet 271 4 10 37 Running
9 21 31 * Tyler Reddick(i) TAME the BEAST Chevrolet 271 0 Running
10 18 37 Chris Buescher Kroger Your Personal Pit Stop Chevrolet 271 6 6 37 Running 1 10
11 14 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. SunnyD Ford 271 3 5 40 Running 2 11
12 33 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 271 25 Running
13 1 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Beer Ford 271 1 2 43 Running 5 104 1
14 34 41 Daniel Suarez Haas Automation Demo Day Ford 271 23 Running
15 30 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 270 10 23 Running
16 11 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota 270 21 Running
17 15 3 Austin Dillon American Ethanol Chevrolet 270 20 Running
18 17 8 Daniel Hemric # Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet 270 19 Running
19 31 19 Martin Truex Jr. Auto Owners Insurance Toyota 270 18 Running
20 3 24 William Byron UniFirst Chevrolet 270 17 Running 1 4
21 26 36 Matt Tifft # Out West Express Ford 270 16 Running 1 1
22 16 32 Corey LaJoie Schluter Systems Ford 270 15 Running
23 19 6 Ryan Newman Performance Plus Motor Oil Ford 269 14 Running
24 10 21 Paul Menard Menards/Dutch Boy Ford 269 13 Running
25 22 47 Ryan Preece # Kroger Chevrolet 269 12 Running
26 37 34 Michael McDowell Dockside Logistics Ford 269 11 Running
27 24 38 David Ragan Mystik Lubricants Ford 269 10 Running
28 36 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet 269 9 Running
29 7 43 Bubba Wallace World Wide Technology Chevrolet 269 8 Running
30 8 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Red Nose Day Toyota 268 9 9 Running 1 1
31 27 15 Ross Chastain(i) Low T Center Chevrolet 268 0 Running 1 1
32 13 12 Ryan Blaney BodyArmor Ford 264 5 Running
33 23 52 Bayley Currey(i) Belmont Classic Cars Ford 263 0 Running
34 25 77 Quin Houff OilFire Rye Whiskey Chevrolet 263 3 Running
35 29 27 * Reed Sorenson Harrah's Chevrolet 262 2 Running
36 20 95 Matt DiBenedetto Digital Momentum/Hubspot Toyota 261 1 Engine
37 38 00 Landon Cassill(i) StarCom Fiber Chevrolet 261 0 Running
38 40 46 * Joey Gase(i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 258 0 Running
39 39 66 * Timmy Hill(i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 257 0 Running
40 28 51 Cody Ware(i) JACOB Companies Chevrolet 245 0 Running
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 6 Mins, 9 Secs. Average Speed: 131.023 MPH Margin of Victory: .205 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 4, 9, 17, 42, 1, 37, 2, 14, 20, 22
Stage 2 Top 10: 9, 4, 20, 88, 17, 37, 1, 14, 18, 42