Richmond Win Gives Keselowski Chase Top Seed

Photo Credit:  Mel Evans, Associated Press AP

(RICHMOND, VA - SEPT 6, 2014 - RIS) Brad Keselowski continued the dominating show by winning drivers at Richmond, leading 383 of the 400 laps and beating Jeff Gordon to the finish line by 0.797 second to take his fourth win of the season and become top seed going into the Chase for the Cup. Last year, Keselowski failed to qualify for the Chase.

The Miller Lite car's win was also team owner Roger Penske's 400th major race series win.

"This is an incredible team," said a happy driver in Victory Lane.

Only Keselowski and Kevin Harvick led the race, with four lead changes between them. The race was slowed for 27 laps by four caution periods, one for a fan who was trying to climb the fence in Turn Four.

"What a night," said Keselowski. "Part of me, when I pulled into Victory Lane I pinched myself once to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.  These are nights you don’t forget as a driver and you live for.  The Miller Lite Ford Fusion was just flying.  I couldn’t ask for a better way to enter the Chase than to come in with a win and take the first seed and we're ready.  We want to run for another Cup.  We really feel like this team has it.  Team Penske is really clicking.  Four hundredth win for Team Penske and I just feel so lucky to have such an incredible team and car like we did tonight, and to be able to execute and not have any bad luck.  We've had plenty of bad luck over the last few weeks, but, wow, what a night."  

"This is more than just a fast car, this is a team that executed all night.  We had great pit stops and came out with the lead everytime.  That’s a testament to the pit crew.  The race car was fast and made all the right moves, got through traffic and executed the restarts – everything went the way we needed it to go tonight and that’s what you’ve got to do."

The last two spots in the Chase for the Sprint Cup were claimed by Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle.  Biffle will be the 15th qualifier by finishing 19th, which broke a string of top-ten finishes.  Newman, who willbe seated 16th and last, qualified by running near the front all night.  The Chase will ber made up of Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt, Jr, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, Aric Almirola, A.J. Allmendinger, Matt Kenseth, Biffle, and Newman. The field will be made up of eight Chevrolets (four from Hendrick Motorsports, two from Stewart-Haas Mostorsports, one from JTG Daugherty Racing, and one from Richard Childress Racing), five Fords (two from Team Penske and Roush Racing and a single entry from Richard Petty Motorsports), and three Toyotas from Joe Gibbs Racing.

The Chase begins next week at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, IL.

Unofficial Results: 57th Annual Federated Auto Parts 400 Richmond International Raceway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Lap, Pts, BPts, Status, TLd, LLd
1) 1, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 400, 48, 5, Running, 3, 383
2) 2, Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet, 400, 42, , Running, ,
3) 6, Clint Bowyer, No. 15 5-hour Energy Toyota, 400, 41, , Running, ,
4) 15, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet, 400, 40, , Running, ,
5) 4, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet, 400, 40, 1, Running, 2, 17
6) 5, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 400, 38, , Running, ,
7) 9, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet, 400, 37, , Running, ,
8) 3, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 400, 36, , Running, ,
9) 12, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, 400, 35, , Running, ,
10) 26, Aric Almirola, No. 43 Gwaltney Ford, 400, 34, , Running, ,
11) 8, Kyle Larson #, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, 400, 33, , Running, ,
12) 24, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Nationwide Insurance Chevrolet, 400, 32, , Running, ,
13) 18, Brian Vickers, No. 55 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota, 400, 31, , Running, ,
14) 20, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Toyota, 400, 30, , Running, ,
15) 19, Tony Stewart, No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, 400, 29, , Running, ,
16) 13, Danica Patrick, No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet, 400, 28, , Running, ,
17) 21, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, 399, 27, , Running, ,
18) 14, Paul Menard, No. 27 Sylvania/Menards Chevrolet, 399, 26, , Running, ,
19) 17, Greg Biffle, No. 16 3M Call Before You Dig Ford, 398, 25, , Running, ,
20) 28, Austin Dillon #, No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet, 398, 24, , Running, ,
21) 11, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, 398, 23, , Running, ,
22) 10, Carl Edwards, No. 99 Kellogg's/Frosted Flakes Ford, 396, 22, , Running, ,
23) 23, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Bush's Beans Chevrolet, 396, 21, , Running, ,
24) 32, Reed Sorenson, No. 36 Chevrolet, 396, 20, , Running, ,
25) 29, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet, 396, 19, , Running, ,
26) 7, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford, 396, 18, , Running, ,
27) 33, Marcos Ambrose, No. 9 DeWalt Ford, 395, 17, , Running, ,
28) 27, Justin Allgaier, No. 51 Brandt Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, 395, 16, , Running, ,
29) 30, David Gilliland, No. 38 Long John Silver's Ford, 395, 15, , Running, ,
30) 35, Cole Whitt #, No. 26 Standard Plumbing Supply Toyota, 394, 14, , Running, ,
31) 22, Casey Mears, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 394, 13, , Running, ,
32) 36, Josh Wise, No. 98 Provident Metals Chevrolet, 394, 12, , Running, ,
33) 42, David Ragan, No. 34 CSX Play It Safe Ford, 394, 11, , Running, ,
34) 34, Landon Cassill(i), No. 40 Newtown Building Supplies Chevrolet, 394, 0, , Running, ,
35) 39, Mike Bliss(i), No. 37 Accell Construction Inc. Chevrolet, 394, 0, , Running, ,
36) 31, David Stremme, No. 90 Junie Donlavey Tribute Chevrolet, 392, 8, , Running, ,
37) 40, Michael Annett #, No. 7 Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet, 392, 7, , Running, ,
38) 25, Alex Bowman #, No. 23 Dr Pepper Toyota, 391, 6, , Running, ,
39) 37, Travis Kvapil, No. 32 Corvetteparts.net Ford, 391, 5, , Running, ,
40) 41, Joe Nemechek(i), No. 66 Friedman Law Firm Toyota, 388, 0, , Running, ,
41) 16, Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, 330, 3, , Running, ,
42) 43, Ryan Truex #, No. 83 Burger King Toyota, 313, 2, , Running, ,
43) 38, JJ Yeley(i), No. 93 Burger King Toyota, 31, 0, , Brakes, ,

# = Rookie, Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this serie
Average Speed: 104.702 MPH
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 51 Mins, 55 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.797 Seconds Lead Changes: 4 among 2 drivers
Cautions: 4 for 27 laps