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Nothing was going to stop Brad Keselowski on the way to his third win of the year.
Not driving the backup car, nor a broken steering just prior to the start of the race at the Kentucky Speedway - nor fuel.
The 28 year-old overcame of all those obstacles for an impressive victory. And he became the first Sprint Cup driver to claim a hat-trick this season.
"Who'd have figured my best finish (of the weekend) would have came in the hardest race but that just shows the importance of teamwork and the group of guys that I have on this Miller Lite Dodge, they're just bad a*$es," said Keselowski.
"They've put together a backup car from last year in the hundred degree heat in an hour's time. Not even an hour; I think it was like 40 minutes. I wish I had a stopwatch for that. Got it on the racetrack, and got to run our laps for practice to make the adjustments we needed to be fast today and that's what bad a*$es do."
Keselowski was referring to an incident in the first practice which forced him into the backup car.
The key to the win was timing of his final pit stop when his crew chief, Paul Wolfe, directed him to pit later than his rivals. It gave him the track position and a fuel comfort zone for the win.
Wolfe said "to be able to fight back like we did through practice with a backup car and be in victory lane says a lot."
Pole-sitter Kyle Busch led 116 laps out of the first 129, but, a broken shock absorber sent him deep in field. Then teammate, Denny Hamlin (who announced a contract extension prior to the race) took over.
Fuel worries kept Hamlin's Toyota from threatening Keselowski's Dodge on the final restart, on lap 220 and he would finish third behind Kasey Kahne's Chevrolet.
"I had to save fuel," Hamlin said. "I could have ran harder really the whole run and try to give the 2 (Keselowski) a run for its money, but I needed a finish coming off two straight DNFs."
Kahne was on rails in the final segment he just fell a little short of the winner. "I just hoped he'd run out of gas," Kahne said. "There was no way I was catching him. We had enough gas to run as hard as I could all the way to the finish, and I was hoping his would shut off, off of two or something."
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished fourth and is second in the series standings 11 points behind Matt Kenseth who finished seventh in a Ford.
With teammates Jeff Gordon fifth and Jimmie Johnson sixth Hendrick Motorsports claimed four of the top six positions.
Defending Cup Champion, Tony Stewart, was plagued with electronic fuel injection problems, had lengthy garage time for repairs and finished 32nd.
Not driving the backup car, nor a broken steering just prior to the start of the race at the Kentucky Speedway - nor fuel.
The 28 year-old overcame of all those obstacles for an impressive victory. And he became the first Sprint Cup driver to claim a hat-trick this season.
"Who'd have figured my best finish (of the weekend) would have came in the hardest race but that just shows the importance of teamwork and the group of guys that I have on this Miller Lite Dodge, they're just bad a*$es," said Keselowski.
"They've put together a backup car from last year in the hundred degree heat in an hour's time. Not even an hour; I think it was like 40 minutes. I wish I had a stopwatch for that. Got it on the racetrack, and got to run our laps for practice to make the adjustments we needed to be fast today and that's what bad a*$es do."
Keselowski was referring to an incident in the first practice which forced him into the backup car.
The key to the win was timing of his final pit stop when his crew chief, Paul Wolfe, directed him to pit later than his rivals. It gave him the track position and a fuel comfort zone for the win.
Wolfe said "to be able to fight back like we did through practice with a backup car and be in victory lane says a lot."
Pole-sitter Kyle Busch led 116 laps out of the first 129, but, a broken shock absorber sent him deep in field. Then teammate, Denny Hamlin (who announced a contract extension prior to the race) took over.
Fuel worries kept Hamlin's Toyota from threatening Keselowski's Dodge on the final restart, on lap 220 and he would finish third behind Kasey Kahne's Chevrolet.
"I had to save fuel," Hamlin said. "I could have ran harder really the whole run and try to give the 2 (Keselowski) a run for its money, but I needed a finish coming off two straight DNFs."
Kahne was on rails in the final segment he just fell a little short of the winner. "I just hoped he'd run out of gas," Kahne said. "There was no way I was catching him. We had enough gas to run as hard as I could all the way to the finish, and I was hoping his would shut off, off of two or something."
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished fourth and is second in the series standings 11 points behind Matt Kenseth who finished seventh in a Ford.
With teammates Jeff Gordon fifth and Jimmie Johnson sixth Hendrick Motorsports claimed four of the top six positions.
Defending Cup Champion, Tony Stewart, was plagued with electronic fuel injection problems, had lengthy garage time for repairs and finished 32nd.