Brad Keselowski Wins Kentucky with Just Enough Fuel

Christopher Hanewinckel, USA Today Sports

SPARTA, KY – RIS – Brad Keselowski crossed the finish line on fumes to win the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.  He saved just enough fuel at the end to get his No.2 Team Penske Ford  to Victory Lane at the 1.5-mile track near Cincinnati, Ohio.  His car, completely out of gas after crossing the finish line, had to be pushed to victory lane by his crew.

"I ran out coming off Turn 4,” said Keselowski.  “I got nothing in the tank,” he told his crew heading into the fourth turn.  Keselowski was aplogetic to the fans for his lack of a burnout.

"Gosh, that was great!  These repaves are usually my Achilles' Heel. This stretch is the best we have, Keselowski said.  "We've got to keep it going until the fall.  I feel terrible for the fans that I couldn't do a burnout, the car didn't have no gas."

Carl Edwards finished second, coming from more than eight seconds behind over the final few laps to pressure Keselowski for the lead on the final lap, but fell short.

The classes of the field were the cars of Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex, Jr., but as the race ran on with 20 laps to go, Keselowski was at the front of the field.  Keselowski, along with others were afraid of running out of fuel.  Harvick came in to get fuel with 15 laps to go, and lost track position.

Truex came through the field after a penalty for illegally passing Harvick entering pit road on an earlier pit stop, but with no clean air, his charge to the front slowed.  Truex also made a pit stop with 10 to go for tires and fuel, and went from third to finish 10^th.

With seven laps to go, Keselowski slowed and gave the lead to Matt Kenseth, who then pitted, giving Keselowski the lead.  Edwards moved into second.   He could never catch the fast Ford of Keselowski.  Kenseth finished 8^th, and Edwards had to be content with the runner-up position.

There were a lot of wrecks.  Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. was the first to wreck out, wrecking on Lap 11.  Jimmie Johnson was next, spinning out and hitting the outside wall on Lap 33.  Joey Logano was next and hit the wall on Lap 53. 

Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney, both vying for the Rookie of the Year title, got together in a three-wide duel with Greg Biffle.  Blaney was in the middle of the three-wide battle, got loose and slammed into Elliott. 

It was the fourth win for Keselowski, the leader in that category in 2016

Carl Edwards finished second, coming from more than eight seconds behind over the final few laps to pressure Keselowski for the lead on the final lap, but fell short.

Truex came through the field after a penalty for illegally passing Harvick entering pit road on an earlier pit stop, but with no clean air, his charge to the front slowed.  Truex also made a pit stop with 10 to go for tires and fuel, and went from third to finish 10th.

With seven laps to go, Keselowski slowed and gave the lead to Matt Kenseth, who then pitted, giving Keselowski the lead.  Edwards moved into second.   He could never catch the fast Ford of Keselowski.  Kenseth finished 8th, and Edwards had to be content with the runner-up position.

There were a lot of wrecks.  Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. was the first to wreck out, wrecking on Lap 11.  Jimmie Johnson was next, spinning out and hitting the outside wall on Lap 33.  Joey Logano was next and hit the wall on Lap 53. 

Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney, both vying for the Rookie of the Year title, got together in a three-wide duel with Greg Biffle.  Blaney was in the middle of the three-wide battle, got loose and slammed into Elliott. 

It was the fourth win for Keselowski, the leader in that category in 2016.

The top ten consisted of Keselowski, Edwards, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex, Jr.

The next race will be at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 17th.

Unofficial Race Results: 6th Annual Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts, Kentucky Speedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Lap, TLd, LLd, Pts, BPts, Status
1) 2, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 267, 3, 75, 44, 4, Running
2) 5, Carl Edwards, No. 19 ARRIS Surfboard Toyota, 267, , , 39, , Running
3) 14, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, 267, , , 38, , Running
4) 3, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet, 267, 1, 10, 38, 1, Running
5) 22, Tony Stewart, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, 267, , , 36, , Running
6) 23, Greg Biffle, No. 16 KFC Ford, 267, , , 35, , Running
7) 16, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet, 267, , , 34, , Running
8) 11, Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, 267, 2, 2, 34, 1, Running
9) 1, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Light Chevrolet, 267, 5, 128, 34, 2, Running
10) 7, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Furniture Row Toyota, 267, 2, 46, 32, 1, Running
11) 17, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford, 267, , , 30, , Running
12) 6, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's 75th Anniversary Toyota, 267, , , 29, , Running
13) 13, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet, 267, , , 28, , Running
14) 18, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet, 267, , , 27, , Running
15) 10, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota, 267, , , 26, , Running
16) 12, Austin Dillon, No. 3 DOW Chevrolet, 267, 1, 1, 26, 1, Running
17) 27, Danica Patrick, No. 10 Nature's Bakery Chevrolet, 266, 1, 2, 25, 1, Running
18) 24, Paul Menard, No. 27 Sylvania/Menards Chevrolet, 266, , , 23, , Running
19) 20, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, 266, , , 22, , Running
20) 26, Aric Almirola, No. 43 Smithfield Ford, 266, , , 21, , Running
21) 36, Cole Whitt, No. 98* Speed Stick Chevrolet, 266, , , 20, , Running
22) 31, David Ragan, No. 23 Dr Pepper Toyota, 265, 1, 2, 20, 1, Running
23) 25, Clint Bowyer, No. 15 AccuDoc Chevrolet, 265, , , 18, , Running
24) 40, Josh Wise, No. 30* Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet, 264, , , 17, , Running
25) 30, Ty Dillon(i), No. 95 Chevy Summer Sell Down Chevrolet, 264, 1, 1, 0, , Running
26) 37, Michael Annett, No. 46 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, 264, , , 15, , Running
27) 39, Reed Sorenson, No. 55* Chevrolet, 262, , , 14, , Running
28) 38, Jeffrey Earnhardt #, No. 32 Keen Parts/Visone RV Ford, 262, , , 13, , Running
29) 29, Landon Cassill, No. 38 MDS Transport Ford, 261, , , 12, , Running
30) 28, Casey Mears, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 246, , , 11, , Running
31) 8, Chase Elliott #, No. 24 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 210, , , 10, , Running
32) 9, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 208, , , 9, , Accident
33) 32, Brian Scott #, No. 44 Medallion Bank Ford, 151, , , 8, , Accident
34) 33, Regan Smith, No. 7 Advance Auto Parts/Quaker State Chevrolet, 150, , , 7, , Accident
35) 15, Ryan Blaney #, No. 21* Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 143, , , 6, , Running
36) 19, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger/Clorox Chevrolet, 103, , , 5, , Accident
37) 34, Chris Buescher #, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 92, , , 4, , Accident
38) 35, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Anest Iwata Toyota, 79, , , 3, , Accident
39) 4, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil/Autotrader Ford, 52, , , 2, , Accident
40) 21, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford, 9, , , 1, , Accident
# = Rookie, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led. 
Average Speed: 128.580 MPH
Time of Race: 03 Hrs, 06 Mins, 55 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.175 Seconds
Lead Changes: 16 among 9 drivers
Eleven cautions for 53 laps