Race report

NASCAR Cup Indianapolis

Brickyard 400: Keselowski wins after door-to-door battle with Hamlin

Brad Keselowski prevailed in a thrilling battle for the win with Denny Hamlin, giving Roger Penske his first Brickyard 400 victory after 25 years of the event.

Nick DeGroot

Edited: Sep 10, 2018, 11:17 PM

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Race winner Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Fusion

Clint Bowyer led the way on a Lap 106 restart to kick off the final stage. With William Byron struggling to get going, Denny Hamlin quickly moved into the second position.

Stage 2 winner Matt Kenseth restarted back in ninth after pitting during the stage break, but he did not waste any time moving forward through the field. By the time the final round of green-flag pit stops began, he was in sixth and knocking on the door of the top-five.

Up front, it continued to be Bowyer with Hamlin stalking close behind. With 41 laps to go, Kyle Busch was forced to pit right at the edge of the pit window with a flat right rear tire.

Hamlin came down pit road with 35 laps to go, but Bowyer waited two more laps before he made his stop. That allowed Hamlin to move ahead, but they remained close as the pit stops cycled through.

Both Blaney and Kenseth saw potential top-five finishes slip away as Blaney blew through his stall and Kenseth’s car fell off the jack.

With 17 laps to go, Brad Keselowski was one of the last frontrunners to pit, doing so mere moments before the caution flew for debris on the frontstretch.

On the following restart, Hamlin was able to get away as Bowyer was harassed by Jamie McMurray for third.

With the freshest tires, Keselowski quickly charged through the field and with seven laps to go, he was up to third.

But at that moment, a massive incident took place involving Landon Cassill and Jeffrey Earnhardt, sending the latter driver airborne.

The race went back green for a three-lap shootout. Bowyer spun the tires, giving way for Keselowski to go after Hamlin. The two veterans went door-to-door with two laps remaining, making contact as Keselowski clawed his way by.

At the white flag, Erik Jones was able to overtake Hamlin, but he could not run down Keselowski, who delivered Team Penske their first ever win in the Brickyard 400.

It’s also Keselowski’s second win in succession with this latest triumph coming just after his first win in Darlington Raceway’s Southern 500 -- another crown jewel.

I gotta give credit where credit is due," said Keselowski. "My crew chief, Paul Wolfe, made a heck of a call to pit there late in that run and the yellow came out and we had new tires and started eighth and it was kind of like it gave me the ball. You know how that goes. I had to make a play. I knew it was going to be tough. We weren’t a dominant car by any means but Paul and everyone executed an incredible race. I just had to do my job and here I am in victory lane at the Brickyard. Man, I wish RP (Roger Penske) was here. I know he is watching at home. What a day!”

The 'Captain' himself issued a statement on the win, saying, "This is certainly a great win for Team Penske. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is such a special place to me personally and the success we have enjoyed there has really helped build our team and continue to raise our level of performance. Earning Team Penske’s first win in the Brickyard 400, especially coming just a couple of months after winning the Indianapolis 500, is a credit to everyone that works so hard throughout our organization. Congratulations to Brad (Keselowski), Paul (Wolfe) and everyone on the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford team. Well done and now we look forward to the opportunity to pursue Team Penske’s 500th win!"

Hamlin was third, Harvick fourth and Bowyer ended up fifth.

CLICK HERE to see which 16 drivers will battle for the 2018 NASCAR Cup title.

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Cla # Driver 4506 Laps Time Laps Led 1 2 United States Brad Keselowski Ford 160 9 2 20 Erik Jones Toyota 160 0.904 3 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 160 1.703 37 4 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 160 1.955 22 5 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 160 2.413 37 6 41 Kurt Busch Ford 160 2.797 19 7 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 160 3.858 8 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 160 4.631 27 9 21 United States Paul Menard Ford 160 4.632 10 31 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 160 4.641 11 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 160 4.798 1 12 6 Matt Kenseth Ford 160 4.911 5 13 22 Joey Logano Ford 160 5.423 14 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 160 5.876 15 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 160 6.264 16 48 United States Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 160 6.708 17 34 Michael McDowell Ford 160 7.762 18 19 Mexico Daniel Suarez Toyota 160 7.978 19 24 William Byron Chevrolet 160 8.964 3 20 95 Regan Smith Chevrolet 160 9.015 21 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 160 9.020 22 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 160 9.135 23 10 United States Aric Almirola Ford 159 1 lap 24 38 David Ragan Ford 159 1 lap 25 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 158 2 laps 26 15 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 158 2 laps 27 72 Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 158 2 laps 28 7 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 158 2 laps 29 23 J.J. Yeley Toyota 157 3 laps 30 52 United States B.J. McLeod Ford 157 3 laps 31 00 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 150 10 laps 32 96 Jeffrey Earnhardt Toyota 150 10 laps 33 88 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 142 18 laps 34 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 136 24 laps 35 66 Timmy Hill Toyota 124 36 laps 36 32 Matt DiBenedetto Ford 89 71 laps 37 47 United States A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 66 94 laps 38 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. Chevrolet 57 103 laps 39 51 David Starr Ford 57 103 laps 40 78 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 41 119 laps

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