The latest auto news, reviews, prices, product and vehicle releases. Sep
17th
Stay connected Subscribe to our RSS feed
Brad Keselowski beat the previously dominant Jimmie Johnson out of the pits on the final pit stop to claim round one and the points lead in NASCAR's Chase.
After his first Chase win Keselowski said “what a great start. It's like a heavyweight title bout it's like round one of ten race battle. Makes me feel good about the four other mile-and-a- half tracks.” It was Keselowski's fourth win of the year, eighth in his career and the first time he's lead the points at the Cup level. He, previously, won the Nationwide title.
Johnson, who won the pole, led a race-high 171-laps, at the two mile oval only to lose the lead and the race with 35 laps to go when Keselowski's Dodge beat him out of the pits.
“Overcame some adversity through or practice sessions, sat on pole, led a lot of laps today, fell some on pit road, race strategy, you name it, we had a very, very solid day. Of course we would have loved to have won the race, but we'll take second and go on,” said Johnson who drove a Chevrolet.
At the time Keselowski exited the pit lane Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, objected to Keselowski, apparently, reentering the track before the blend line. NASCAR officials reviewed tapes of the incident and concluded no violation occurred.
Kasey Kahne took home third place. “It just was a little bit to keep up with Jimmie, and then when Brad came up there later on and they were just better than I was throughout that race.” said Kahne.
Kyle Busch, who is not in the Chase, was the highest placed Toyota driver in fourth.
Other Chasers suffered like Jeff Gordon who hit the wall with stuck throttle on lap 188 dropping him to 35th place and likely done with a bid for a fifth title. “I just let off the throttle, and it just didn't come all the way back," Gordon said as his crew tried to repair the car. "It was probably about half-throttle, which is still enough to do a lot of damage.”
Then 2003 champion Matt Kenseth had a right rear shock absorber fall off, causing a lengthy repair he finished 18th.
The most serious setback came to Denny Hamlin who came into the Chase as the first seed. He ran out of fuel on the last lap dropping him from 8th to 16th.
Tony Stewart, who finished sixth, is third eight points behind Keselowski. Greg Biffle had the best finish for a Ford driver in 13th.
After his first Chase win Keselowski said “what a great start. It's like a heavyweight title bout it's like round one of ten race battle. Makes me feel good about the four other mile-and-a- half tracks.” It was Keselowski's fourth win of the year, eighth in his career and the first time he's lead the points at the Cup level. He, previously, won the Nationwide title.
 |
| Celebration of Keselowski's fourth win of the season. (Photo: NASCAR) |
Johnson, who won the pole, led a race-high 171-laps, at the two mile oval only to lose the lead and the race with 35 laps to go when Keselowski's Dodge beat him out of the pits.
“Overcame some adversity through or practice sessions, sat on pole, led a lot of laps today, fell some on pit road, race strategy, you name it, we had a very, very solid day. Of course we would have loved to have won the race, but we'll take second and go on,” said Johnson who drove a Chevrolet.
At the time Keselowski exited the pit lane Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, objected to Keselowski, apparently, reentering the track before the blend line. NASCAR officials reviewed tapes of the incident and concluded no violation occurred.
Kasey Kahne took home third place. “It just was a little bit to keep up with Jimmie, and then when Brad came up there later on and they were just better than I was throughout that race.” said Kahne.
Kyle Busch, who is not in the Chase, was the highest placed Toyota driver in fourth.
 |
| Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski leading the pack during a restart. (Photo: NASCAR) |
Other Chasers suffered like Jeff Gordon who hit the wall with stuck throttle on lap 188 dropping him to 35th place and likely done with a bid for a fifth title. “I just let off the throttle, and it just didn't come all the way back," Gordon said as his crew tried to repair the car. "It was probably about half-throttle, which is still enough to do a lot of damage.”
Then 2003 champion Matt Kenseth had a right rear shock absorber fall off, causing a lengthy repair he finished 18th.
The most serious setback came to Denny Hamlin who came into the Chase as the first seed. He ran out of fuel on the last lap dropping him from 8th to 16th.
Tony Stewart, who finished sixth, is third eight points behind Keselowski. Greg Biffle had the best finish for a Ford driver in 13th.