Keselowski Wins at Richmond, Chase Up Ahead

Starting the race from pole position in the Team Penske #2 Ford at Richmond International Raceway on Sunday, Brad Keselowski held onto the lead for all but 17 of the 400 laps of the Sprint Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 and crossed the finish line in first place, to claim his fourth win of the season and put him in the number one spot in the Sprint Cup Standings

Starting the race from pole position in the Team Penske #2 Ford at Richmond International Raceway on Sunday, Brad Keselowski held onto the lead for all but 17 of the 400 laps of the Sprint Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 and crossed the finish line in first place, to claim his fourth win of the season and put him in the number one spot in the Sprint Cup Standings. As the last race for drivers to qualify for the Chase on the new win-and-in rules, fans were no doubt expecting a lot more action, but there appeared to be no serious challenger for Keselowski and the race ended with Jeff Gordon in second place, followed by Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick in third, fourth and fifth places respectively.

As the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion, Keselowski needed a strong finish at Richmond in order to make the Chase field. As it turned out he finished in 17th place and missed out on the opportunity to defend his title. This time around he is in a good position to reclaim the title. In a post-race interview Keselowski noted that when he pulled into Victory Lane, he had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, going on to say that “These are nights you don’t forget as a driver and you live for.” Describing the 2013 season as a “bit of a kick in the butt”, Keselowski concedes that it did motivate the Penske Team to “find another level”.

The race was fairly incident free apart from the fact that, with 71 laps of the race remaining, an apparently inebriated fan climbed to the top of the catch fence between the track and the grandstand resulting in a caution while he was removed. Most of the field used the caution as an opportunity for a pit stop, with Keselowski remaining ahead of the pack back into the race.

The Chase for the Sprint Cup standings are:

1. Brad Keselowski #2 – Ford

2. Jeff Gordon #24 – Chevrolet

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. – #88 Chevrolet

4. Jimmie Johnson – #48 Chevrolet

5. Joey Logano – #22 Ford

6. Kevin Harvick – #4 Chevrolet

7. Carl Edwards – #99 Ford

8. Kyle Busch – #18 Toyota

9. Denny Hamlin – #11 Toyota

10. Kurt Busch – #41 Chevrolet

11. Kasey Kahne – #5 Chevrolet

12. Aric Almirola – #43 Ford

13. AJ Allmendinger – #47 Chevrolet

14. Matt Kenseth – #20 Toyota

15. Greg Biffle – #16 Ford

16. Ryan Newman – #31 Chevrolet