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13th
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It came too late to put Brad Keselowski in NASCAR's playoff called the Chase, but, the Michigan native felt pretty good back in Victory Lane.
The 2012 Sprint Cup champion ended a 37-race winless drought after a fierce battle with second place Kasey Kahne.
It was “a never-give-up-night,” Keselowski said referring to a penalty for leaving the pits with a tire jack attached. Then a timely decision from the pits made the victory possible.
“When Paul (Wolfe his crew chief) made the call to take four tires and I saw we were that close to the front, I knew we could get them. I knew we had a good car. Raced Kasey really (with emphasis) hard!! He ran me hard, but, he ran me clean.
And as a shot at Kyle Busch who tangled with him in the Nationwide series race in Kansas last week he added "there's some guys you can't race hard with because they freak out."
Coincidentally, Kahne was the last non-chaser to win a race during NASCAR's playoffs with a victory at Phoenix in 2011.
Kahne, who led a race-high 138 laps, explained that, after a pretty intense battle that the key to the victory was fresher tires. “I was on two he was on four,” said Kahne. “I'd get loose, I was doing all I could and he was able to get by me.”
Series points leader Matt Kenseth finished third (after starting 20th) and now has a four-point lead over Jimmie Johnson who finished fourth and Kyle Busch was fifth.
“It was a little bit of a struggle this weekend more than we anticipated,” said Kenseth. “I didn't get a good lap qualifying, and that was really the start of us being behind tonight.
“About our second or third adjustment, Jason and our group really hit it and really found something that I liked, and our car started driving really good. I could pass really good, start working our way up through the field. It was such long runs and long greens that they got really far ahead of us. “
Johnson said the final restart hindered his shot at a hometown victory. “Down in (turns) one and two just in the dirty air I pushed the No. 5 (Kahne) off into (turn) one. He didn't get the best restart and something to do with that combo got me off the bottom and a couple of cars got into the side of me.”
Jeff Gordon who continues to hold fourth place, 36 points down, finished seventh.
The 2012 Sprint Cup champion ended a 37-race winless drought after a fierce battle with second place Kasey Kahne.
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| Photo: NASCAR Media |
It was “a never-give-up-night,” Keselowski said referring to a penalty for leaving the pits with a tire jack attached. Then a timely decision from the pits made the victory possible.
“When Paul (Wolfe his crew chief) made the call to take four tires and I saw we were that close to the front, I knew we could get them. I knew we had a good car. Raced Kasey really (with emphasis) hard!! He ran me hard, but, he ran me clean.
And as a shot at Kyle Busch who tangled with him in the Nationwide series race in Kansas last week he added "there's some guys you can't race hard with because they freak out."
 |
| Photo: NASCAR Media |
Coincidentally, Kahne was the last non-chaser to win a race during NASCAR's playoffs with a victory at Phoenix in 2011.
Kahne, who led a race-high 138 laps, explained that, after a pretty intense battle that the key to the victory was fresher tires. “I was on two he was on four,” said Kahne. “I'd get loose, I was doing all I could and he was able to get by me.”
Series points leader Matt Kenseth finished third (after starting 20th) and now has a four-point lead over Jimmie Johnson who finished fourth and Kyle Busch was fifth.
“It was a little bit of a struggle this weekend more than we anticipated,” said Kenseth. “I didn't get a good lap qualifying, and that was really the start of us being behind tonight.
 |
| Photo: NASCAR Media |
“About our second or third adjustment, Jason and our group really hit it and really found something that I liked, and our car started driving really good. I could pass really good, start working our way up through the field. It was such long runs and long greens that they got really far ahead of us. “
Johnson said the final restart hindered his shot at a hometown victory. “Down in (turns) one and two just in the dirty air I pushed the No. 5 (Kahne) off into (turn) one. He didn't get the best restart and something to do with that combo got me off the bottom and a couple of cars got into the side of me.”
Jeff Gordon who continues to hold fourth place, 36 points down, finished seventh.
 |
| Photo: NASCAR Media |