A long futility streak ended at Kansas Speedway, but it wasn’t that driver’s streak — it was Brad Keselowski’s. The young star managed to conserve just enough fuel to win the Sprint Cup STP 400 on Sunday.
“We caught a break today,” said Keselowski, who has experienced some hard-to-swallow finishes to races this year. “We got great gas mileage, and that doesn’t hurt, either.”
And Dale Earnhardt Jr.? He’s holding steady at 106 races without a victory. Junior finished second, with Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards rounding out the top five. Fox Sports
Steve Letarte, Earnhardt’s crew chief, was convinced Earnhardt’s pass of Hamlin on Lap 256 of 267 was for the win. Earnhardt and Hamlin had come to the pits under caution on Lap 163, setting up a scenario where they could finish the race on one more stop, while the vast majority of cars ahead of them would have to make two.
That’s the way 13th race of the season played out—with one exception. Keselowski found a way to make it to the finish after a green-flag pit stop on Lap 210, foiling the winning chances of Earnhardt and Hamlin, who made their final stops on Lap 215.
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. NASCAR.com
FIN CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 2 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 3 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 4 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 5 99 Carl Edwards Ford 6 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 7 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 8 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 9 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 10 16 Greg Biffle Ford 11 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 12 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 13 6 David Ragan Ford 14 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 15 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 16 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 17 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 18 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 19 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 20 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 21 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 22 0 David Reutimann Toyota 23 20 Joey Logano Toyota 24 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 25 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 26 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 27 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 28 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 29 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 30 32 Patrick Carpentier Ford 31 71 Andy Lally * Ford 32 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 33 34 David Gilliland Ford 34 38 Travis Kvapil Ford 35 51 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 36 7 Johnny Sauter Dodge 37 13 Casey Mears Toyota 38 46 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 39 30 David Stremme Chevrolet 40 60 Mike Skinner Toyota 41 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 42 181 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 43 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota
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