Chicagoland Victory Seeds Keselowski to Playoff Round Two

Brad Keselowski Celebrates Chicagoland Victory

(Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)

JOLIET, IL - RIS – Brad Keselowski drove to victory 1.759 seconds ahead of Jeff Gordon in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, MyAFibStory.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. Rookie Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.

By virtue of his win Keselowski is automatically seeded into the Contender (second) round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoffs. Aric Almirola, Greg Biffle, A.J. Almendinger and Ryan Newman will face first round elimination if they cannot race into the top twelve during the next two races (New Hampshire and Dover) left in the Challenger playoff round.

Keselowski leads Jeff Gordon by 7 points in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

“We had a great car today,” Brad Keselowski said. “These Fords have really come together. It was a crazy day. We caught a break when we came out in fourth after that restart.”

This was Kieslowski’s 15th victory in 188 Sprint Cup races and his fifth victory this year.

Kyle Larson’s third place finish was the highest of the rookies entered. He had to start the race from last place due to a car change after wrecking his primary car in practice.

Defending six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmy Johnson finished 12th.

Chase top seed Brad Keselowski started 25th. He drove through the field to the first position by mid-race. He came into the pits twice for a second full set of tires during a single caution on lap 182, dropping from second place to 16th. He battled back to fourth place prior to the last re-start. He took the lead away from the battling duo of Jeff Gordon and Kyle Larson with a daring pass by both of them on lap 252 and drove away from the field for the win.

Pole sitter Kyle Busch finished seventh. Busch kept trying to dial in his setup after leading early in the race but could not catch up with the lead cars.

Mishaps:

Aric Almirola engine blew, while leading the race on lap 230.

Greg Biffle couldn’t find the speed. He was never a factor.

A.J. Allmendinger’s shift lever broke off on lap 102.

Joey Logano’s engine was boiling over during the last few laps.

Kevin Harvick had to make two pit stops on lap 70 due to a loose wheel. Harvick won Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Chicagoland.

Kurt Busch received a pass through penalty for spinning on the entry to pit road during the first round of pit stops. He finished eighth.

Jamie McMurray slapped the outside retaining wall on lap 77.

Ryan Newman’s left rear tire went flat on lap 98.

Matt Kenseth spun entering pit road on lap 148.

Carl Edwards had a flat tire on lap 230.

Kasey Kahne was penalized for entering pit road too fast and was forced to restart from the rear of the field on lap 71.

Qualifying for the race was cancelled due to rain. Starting positons were set by Practice 1 positions.

The race was slowed six times for 28 laps.

There were 18 lead changes among 7 drivers.

The Series now moves to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, September 21 for the second race of the Challenger round of the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup playoffs.

Fin Str Driver
1 25 Brad Keselowski
2 8 Jeff Gordon
3 10 Kyle Larson #
4 28 Joey Logano
5 12 Kevin Harvick
6 24 Denny Hamlin
7 1 Kyle Busch
8 14 Kurt Busch
9 11 Jamie McMurray
10 5 Matt Kenseth
11 13 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
12 7 Jimmie Johnson
13 19 Kasey Kahne
14 27 Martin Truex Jr.
15 2 Ryan Newman
16 15 Austin Dillon #
17 4 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
18 22 Tony Stewart
19 18 Danica Patrick
20 3 Carl Edwards
21 9 Paul Menard
22 17 AJ Allmendinger
23 20 Greg Biffle
24 16 Brian Vickers
25 21 Marcos Ambrose
26 29 Casey Mears
27 26 Justin Allgaier #
28 38 Landon Cassill(i)
29 36 Reed Sorenson
30 33 Cole Whitt #
31 39 David Ragan
32 32 Michael McDowell
33 34 Josh Wise
34 30 David Gilliland
35 37 Alex Bowman #
36 41 Joe Nemechek(i)
37 43 Joey Gase(i)
38 42 Travis Kvapil
39 6 Clint Bowyer
40 35 Michael Annett #
41 23 Aric Almirola
42 31 Ryan Truex #
43 40 Mike Bliss(i)