March 8, 2014
Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch, although frequent winners in NASCAR Nationwide Series competition, headed into Saturday's Boyd Gaming 300 Nationwide race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway winless in series competition at LVMS. In the end, Saturday's race win came down to a battle between the two and Keselowski finally broke into the Nationwide Series Las Vegas Motor Speedway win column, forcing Las Vegas native Busch to settle for second.
"It was just our day," Keselowski said. "It was meant to be."
Keselowski dominated the race, leading 144 laps of the 200 that made up the race. Busch also led several laps, running up front for 33 circuits.
Keselowski took the lead from pole sitter Ty Dillon on lap seven and remained up front while Busch worked his way up from the back. After qualifying in the top-10, Busch had to start in the back when his team replaced a frayed alternator belt during the impound period after qualifying.
Keselowski suffered an alternator issue during the race, reporting to his team with about 40 laps to go that his alternator broke. Keeping an eye on his voltage meter and running his car on battery power, he was able to stay in front of Busch for the remainder of the race.
"We found every way we could to make it hard," Keselowski said. "These races aren't getting easier to win. I drove as hard as I could every lap."
Keselowski also had trouble on pit road, going from second to fifth during a caution on lap 148 after sliding through his pit stall.
Busch made his way toward the front quickly in the early going, moving into the top-10 on lap 12 and then into the top-five by lap 36. He was second on the restart following the first caution of the race on lap 56.
Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Matt Kenseth, took the lead from Keselowski on the restart after the lap 56 caution, and with Busch in second, Keselowski was shuffled back to third. The teammates continued to run first and second until Keselowski retook the lead soon after a restart following a lap-70 caution. Kenseth lost a few more positions, while Busch maintained second.
Busch was able to get the lead from Keselowski during a cycle of green-flag pit stops that began around lap 114. Busch and Keselowski ran about six seconds ahead of third-place Kenseth until the field was bunched up by a yellow flag on lap 148.
After Keselowski's pit road snafu, Busch and Kenseth restarted first and second. While racing Busch for the lead, Kenseth spun and brought out a caution with 42 laps remaining. Busch and Keselowski then restarted the race first and second, and Keselowski took the lead for good when the race went back to green.
"I don't know what caused us to lose the lead," Busch said. "That was unfortunate. That cost us the race."
Kyle Larson finished third after hitting the wall, causing significant damage to his car early in the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was fourth, and Chase Elliott was the highest-finishing, championship-eligible driver, finishing fifth.
"It was a lot of fun," Elliott said. "Biggest thing for us, it gives us a mindset that we can run up front."
Kenseth wound up sixth, while Brian Scott finished seventh, Trevor Bayne eighth, Chris Buescher ninth and Regan Smith 10th. Only 10 cars finished on the lead lap.
After starting the race on the pole, Dillon finished 11th, one lap down, after two pit road speeding penalties.
Getty Images
Brad Keselowski earns his first Sprint Cup
victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to cap the first weekend sweep of
his NASCAR career, which also includes Saturday’s Nationwide series
race.
LAS VEGAS — Dale Earnhardt Jr. knew he probably didn't have enough fuel to finish. He kept going anyway.
And when Earnhardt's tank went dry on the final lap, Brad Keselowski was there to clean up.
Keselowski surged ahead when Earnhardt ran out of fuel, claiming a dramatic victory in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
And when Earnhardt's tank went dry on the final lap, Brad Keselowski was there to clean up.
Keselowski surged ahead when Earnhardt ran out of fuel, claiming a dramatic victory in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
"That's what you live for as a driver, at least I do," Keselowski said. "Those moments where you're side by side and you lay it all out on the racetrack and bring back the car with the tires smoking, engine smoking, and you're worn out inside because you gave it all you had. It was one of those races there at the end."
Keselowski knew all about the fuel shortage faced by Earnhardt and Carl Edwards, who both made their final pit stops about 10 laps before him. So the 2012 Sprint Cup champion forced the issue.
"I felt like we could run him down," Keselowski said of Earnhardt. "He was going to have to burn fuel to keep me behind him. At that point, it was just a matter of whether a yellow (flag) came out or not, because it was just a ticking time bomb. It worked in our favor today."
Keselowski got his big break and first full-time ride in NASCAR when Earnhardt picked him to drive for his Nationwide team in 2007.
On Sunday, Earnhardt finished second and didn't regret it, secure in his overall position thanks to the new rules in the Chase for the Championship, which puts increased emphasis on wins. Still, his Hendrick Motorsports Chevy was just a few ounces of fuel shy of earning him a second victory in three races to start the season.
When Earnhardt sat down for his postrace news conference in front of two cans of his sponsor's energy drink, he picked up one can wistfully: "That's all we needed, just 16 ounces."
The Daytona 500 champion was disappointed but not discouraged after his spectacular start to the season. He also finished second last week at Phoenix.
"We weren't supposed to make it," he said. "We were trying to save as much as we can and make it work, but we knew we were short. We wouldn't have finished second if we didn't have that strategy."
Earnhardt also praised NASCAR's new Chase setup, which let him take a fuel gamble because his Daytona 500 all but sealed his spot.
"I think the new format definitely is showing it has tons of positives," Earnhardt said. "It's better as far as entertainment for our sport."
With his wife due to give birth at any minute, Paul Menard finished third, in front of Keselowski's teammate, pole-sitter Joey Logano. Edwards was fifth.
Note: Chip Ganassi Racing signed Dylan Kwasniewski, 18, as a development driver, making the announcement at Kwasniewski's hometown track. Kwasniewski is in his first full-time Nationwide series season with Turner Scott Motorsports.
I just felt like because Brad won not only one but both races he raced in over the weekend, that respect was due. And also because he is one of my drivers this season but what more can I say that Brad hasn't already said with these two wins? Other then congratulations on BOTH wins Brad, I'm so happy for you and so proud of you as a fan of you and the sport of NASCAR!
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