Stretching his fuel mileage to the maximum, Brad Keselowski coasted across the finish line to win Sunday’s STP 400 at Kansas Speedway.
In winning his first Sprint Cup race of the season and the second of his career, Keselowski got 57 green-flag laps out of his last tank of fuel. Keselowski prevented runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr., his old boss at JR Motorsports, from ending a drought that reached 106 races.
Denny Hamlin, who like Earnhardt was conserving fuel, came home third, followed by Jeff Gordon and series points leader Carl Edwards. NASCAR.com
“We caught a great break today,” Keselowski said. “It’s all because of the hard work from everybody on this team. I also got great gas mileage, which doesn’t hurt either.”
Keselowski claimed his second career Sprint Cup win. He also gave Paul Wolfe his first victory as a crew chief in the series.
“Being my first win, I’m really excited about all the effort that’s been put in so far,” Wolfe said. “To be able to get the [car] to victory lane was pretty special today.”
His first win came in April 2009 at Talladega—75 races ago. He drove for car owner James Finch (Phoenix Racing) at the time. MiamiHerald.com
Earnhardt appeared set to make a late charge on Keselowski. That push never came—though Earnhardt did move up to third in the standings and is just one point behind Jimmie Johnson.
For the second week in a row in a fuel-mileage race, Earnhardt came up just short. He ran out of gas near the finish in Charlotte and wound up seventh.
“Anytime you win a fuel mileage race you’ve done something as a driver,” Earnhardt said. “We don’t know what we’re doing really trying to save gas or how much we’re saving. But (Keselowski) had a hand in it.” ESPN
Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart finished sixth through eighth, respectively.
Keselowski’s Penske Racing teammate, pole-sitter Kurt Busch, dominated the race, leading 152 laps. But he had to pit late for fuel and finished ninth.
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: STP 400 at Kansas Speedway - Race Results
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