Keselowski wins Nationwide race at Charlotte

Published February 05, 2015

Concord, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Brad Keselowski claimed his fourth Nationwide Series victory of the season by taking Friday night's Drive for the Cure 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Keselowski experienced a tire issue and brushed the wall early in the race, forcing him to pit sooner than expected. He bounced back and passed Ryan Blaney, his Team Penske teammate, for the lead with 14 laps to go. Keselowski then held off Kyle Busch in the closing laps for the win.

"You could see everybody that ran hard just kept having tire problems, and we had some on the first run," Keselowski said. "Thankfully, we got better and made some adjustments on the car. That was looking to be a long night, but the No. 22 team did an awesome job with this Ford Mustang. They got it tuned in there for the end when it mattered."

It was the 31st career victory for Keselowski, which placed him in a tie with Jack Ingram for fifth on the series' all-time race winners list. Keselowski has now won a Nationwide race at Charlotte three times. He made his ninth start in the series this season.

Busch, who had won the last two Nationwide races (Dover and Kansas), crossed the finish line 0.377 seconds behind Keselowski.

"They (Keselowski's team) were just better than us tonight, and they beat us," Busch said.

Busch holds the record for most wins in the series with 69.

Matt Kenseth, who is Busch's teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, finished third, while Blaney ended up in fourth. Kyle Larson, who won the spring Nationwide race at Charlotte in May, completed the top-five.

Chase Elliott's eighth-place finish coupled with an 11th-place run for Regan Smith allowed Elliott to increase his lead in the championship standings from 38 points to 42 over his JR Motorsports teammate.

Elliott started on the pole and led four times for a race-high 66 laps, but the rookie driver faded in the late stages.

"My restarts were probably some of the worst restarts you could possibly have here," Elliott said. "I'm disappointed with it. I really don't like where I ended up tonight.

Just three races remain. The series will take the next two weekends off before concluding the season with Texas (Nov. 1), Phoenix (Nov. 8) and Homestead (Nov. 15).

"We've got some work to do, and hopefully we can find it before Texas," Elliott added.

Rookie Ty Dillon entered this race third in the point standings, but Dillon was involved in a six-car crash on the frontstretch on lap 75. He posted his first DNF of the season, placing 30th. The Richard Childress Racing driver fell to fifth in points (-64).

Dillon triggered the incident when he got squeezed in between Dakoda Armstrong and Eric McClure in a tight pack of cars, causing him to hit the wall.

"I made a mistake out there," Dillon said. "I'm just disappointed the way it finished."

This 300-mile race began with an 11-car accident on the frontstretch during the opening lap. J.J. Yeley spun out and created an accordion effect at the initial start. The first eight laps were run under caution.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/keselowski-wins-nationwide-race-at-charlotte