By JENNA FRYER
Associated Press
TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — To win the championship this year, Team Penske told Brad Keselowski he had to win at Talladega Superspeedway.
So he did.
Again.
Keselowski earned an automatic berth into the third round of the playoffs with a victory Sunday at Talladega, where he considered himself lucky to finish after a sloppy day for NASCAR.
“I survived,” Keselowski said. “I feel like only eight cars finished the race. It was one of those crazy days ... a lot of attrition.”
There were just 14 cars running at the conclusion, and only four were playoff drivers. The race was red-flagged three times for nearly 35 minutes.
By avoiding the carnage, Keselowski won for the fifth time at Talladega and gave Ford a season sweep of the four restrictor-plate races.
Most important, though, is that he knows he’s still in the hunt for his second Cup title. The victory vaulted him from 10th to second in the playoff standings.
“You’d love to be able to pat yourself on the back and say it’s all skill, but there is some luck that’s involved in this,” Keselowski said. “When you come here, probably three out of every four races you’re going to get caught up in a wreck. But the races where you have the good fortune, where you don’t get caught up in a wreck or you don’t have something break or any of those things, you have to take those races, run up front and win them.
“That’s what we’ve been able to do.”
Talladega was the perfect place for Keselowski to take the stress off before next week’s elimination race at Kansas. Crew chief Paul Wolfe told Keselowski he was going to need to win Sunday because the Fords haven’t run as well as the other playoff contenders on intermediate tracks, so this was his shot.
Wolfe didn’t doubt the driver could deliver. When the elimination format was rolled out in 2014, Keselowski had to win Talladega to advance. The race this year was moved to the middle event of the second round, so eliminations weren’t at stake, but Keselowski needed a big day.
“As we tried to understand what we need to do in each round and look at our strengths and weaknesses ... I looked at Talladega and this round as an opportunity,” Wolfe said. “This was going to be our path to make it to Homestead, and that was going to be winning Talladega.
“When he gets in these situations, you’re going to get the most out of him. You’ve got to have a little bit of help, lucky breaks, whatever you want to call them, along the way, but I knew if we had that, our cars have been fast enough, and he’s talented enough at these tracks that I knew we could get it done.”
Keselowski was the leader when the race resumed with three laps remaining, but was passed by Ryan Newman, who stayed out front until the final lap. Then Keselowski made his move around Newman on the high side of the track to take the lead, and a crossover move held off both Newman and Penske teammate Joey Logano.
Keselowski then collected the American flag for the victory lap on his 24th career Cup win, which came in his 300th start. His first career Cup win was at Talladega in 2009.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished seventh in his final race at Talladega, where he and his late father combined to win 16 Cup races. Alabama declared Sunday “Dale Earnhardt Jr. Day.”
“This has been a hell of a weekend for me, and I’m glad to be able to finish and finish well. That means a lot to me,” Earnhardt said. “I know a lot of folks came and traveled here to see us run, so I know they’re disappointed we didn’t win, but I’m glad they got to see us run the whole event, and hopefully they enjoyed it.”
Newman finished second in a Chevrolet and was followed by Trevor Bayne, Logano and Aric Almirola — all non-playoff drivers.
“Brad and I work really well together on these speedways,” Logano said. “I was able to push him up to the lead and I thought, ‘Alright, now I got you to the lead. It’s my turn to get up there and try to win this thing.’ Our never-quit-attitude got us a top-five out of a day that looked like we may not even finish. I’m proud of that.”
Denny Hamlin finished sixth, the best of the Toyota drivers. But the manufacturer’s playoff streak came to an end after Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch gave Toyota wins in the first four playoff races.
Of the top 10 finishers, only Keselowski and Hamlin were playoff drivers.
The rest of the 12-driver playoff field had a rough afternoon.
McMURRAY’s BAD DAY
Jamie McMurray’s championship chances took a huge hit when he misfired on his attempt to pit early in the race. He was too high on the track when he tried to dart low to make the entrance to pit road, and forcing the issue in traffic caused him to wreck.
He entered the day in the transfer position for the playoffs, but he finished 37th on Sunday and is now last in the 12-driver field.
“There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s part of Talladega,” he said. “We know you can come out of here with a lot of points and be a winner or you can be in the position we are right now. We’ll go to Kansas and do our best. I’m sure I won’t be the only playoff driver disappointed today.”
HE WAS RIGHT
All the accidents Sunday gave the playoff standings a different look. Truex still leads, but the bottom four drivers are Kyle Busch — who has been in back-to-back wrecks — Matt Kenseth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and McMurray. On the cut line? Defending series champion Jimmie Johnson.
UP NEXT
The final race in the second round of NASCAR’s playoffs is next Sunday at Kansas Speedway. Four drivers will be cut from the playoff field.
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More AP Auto Racing: http://racing.ap.org/
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Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race - Alabama 500
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega, Alabama
Sunday, October 15, 2017
1. (6) Brad Keselowski (P), Ford, 188.
2. (27) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 188.
3. (10) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 188.
4. (3) Joey Logano, Ford, 188.
5. (26) Aric Almirola, Ford, 188.
6. (15) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 188.
7. (1) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 188.
8. (11) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 188.
9. (39) * Gray Gaulding #, Toyota, 188.
10. (33) David Ragan, Ford, 188.
11. (25) Ty Dillon #, Chevrolet, 188.
12. (20) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 188.
13. (12) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 188.
14. (19) Matt Kenseth (P), Toyota, 187.
15. (14) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, Accident, 184.
16. (2) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, Accident, 182.
17. (28) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, Accident, 182.
18. (9) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, Accident, 177.
19. (35) * Brendan Gaughan(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 177.
20. (22) Kevin Harvick (P), Ford, Accident, 176.
21. (13) Danica Patrick, Ford, Accident, 175.
22. (24) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 172.
23. (21) Martin Truex Jr. (P), Toyota, Accident, 171.
24. (8) Jimmie Johnson (P), Chevrolet, Parked, 171.
25. (4) Kurt Busch, Ford, Accident, 171.
26. (5) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (P), Ford, Accident, 171.
27. (16) Kyle Busch (P), Toyota, Accident, 171.
28. (30) Landon Cassill, Ford, Accident, 171.
29. (18) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 171.
30. (29) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, Accident, 171.
31. (32) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, Parked, 171.
32. (37) Joey Gase(i), Toyota, Accident, 164.
33. (40) * DJ Kennington, Toyota, Accident, 164.
34. (38) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, Accident, 155.
35. (7) Clint Bowyer, Ford, Accident, 155.
36. (23) Erik Jones #, Toyota, Accident, 26.
37. (17) Jamie McMurray (P), Chevrolet, Accident, 25.
38. (34) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, Accident, 25.
39. (36) Mark Thompson(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 25.
40. (31) * Justin Marks(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 16.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 131.677 mph.
Time of Race: 03 Hrs, 47 Mins, 52 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.210 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 11 for 47 laps.
Lead Changes: 30 among 16 drivers.
Lap Leaders: D. Earnhardt Jr. 0; J. Logano 1-13; D. Earnhardt Jr. 14-20; C. Elliott (P) 21-25; M. Kenseth (P) 26-29; A. Allmendinger 30; J. Logano 31-54; B. Keselowski (P) 55-57; K. Kahne 58-61; M. Kenseth (P) 62-63; D. Hamlin (P) 64-66; M. Kenseth (P) 67; K. Kahne 68; B. Gaughan(i) 69-70; M. DiBenedetto 71-82; R. Stenhouse Jr. (P) 83-88; K. Busch 89-91; R. Blaney (P) 92-111; R. Newman 112; B. Gaughan(i) 113-116; D. Hamlin (P) 117; R. Blaney (P) 118-124; C. Elliott (P) 125-144; K. Busch (P) 145-148; J. Logano 149-170; D. Suarez # 171-176; C. Elliott (P) 177; D. Suarez # 178-182; B. Keselowski (P) 183-185; R. Newman 186-187; B. Keselowski (P) 188;.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): J. Logano 3 times for 59 laps; R. Blaney (P) 2 times for 27 laps; C. Elliott (P) 3 times for 26 laps; M. DiBenedetto 1 time for 12 laps; D. Suarez # 2 times for 11 laps; B. Keselowski (P) 3 times for 7 laps; M. Kenseth (P) 3 times for 7 laps; D. Earnhardt Jr. 1 time for 7 laps; B. Gaughan(i) 2 times for 6 laps; R. Stenhouse Jr. (P) 1 time for 6 laps; K. Kahne 2 times for 5 laps; K. Busch (P) 1 time for 4 laps; D. Hamlin (P) 2 times for 4 laps; R. Newman 2 times for 3 laps; K. Busch 1 time for 3 laps; A. Allmendinger 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 2,22,21,17,48,14,95,41,6,5
Stage #2 Top Ten: 21,2,14,24,41,3,48,4,18,11
NASCAR Wire Service
RICHMOND, Va. — In the long run, Brad Keselowski knew he had the superior car.
And that’s exactly what Keselowski got – a long run to close Friday night’s Virginia529 College Savings 250 at Richmond Raceway.
“When you can race with him (Busch), you know you’re having a good day, especially in this series,” Keselowski said after completing a spectacular celebratory burnout on the frontstretch. “When you race with Kyle, you race with the best. He and I may not always get along, but I have a lot of respect for his talent.”
After the second stage, which Keselowski won with a pass of Busch on the final circuit (Lap 150), the race ran without caution for the final 89 laps. Keselowski was driving a car with the new flange-fit composite body, which will be mandatory in the series by 2019.
“We weren’t quite where we wanted to be on the short runs, but good enough to be right there,” said Keselowski, who won for the second time this season, the fourth time at the .75-mile track and the 36th time in his career. “We just hung with him and got the long runs and we were able to pounce.
“That’s a testament to the team. (NBC Sports Analyst Jeff) Burton was asking me if it was the setup or the driver. I think it was both. I’m happy to get another win in this series. It’s a lot of fun and the first one in these new bodies. At least you know it isn’t an aero advantage. A great night at Richmond. I’m proud of my whole team.”
The cars of Keselowski and Busch were the clear class of the field, but behind them, series regular Elliott Sadler rolled home in fifth place and clinched the regular-season championship, along with the bonus of 15 playoff points that goes with it.
“We’re getting ourselves in playoff form,” said Sadler, who locked up the title with one race left in the regular season. “We’re fired up and ready to go.”
Making his last XFINITY start of the season, Busch had to settle for second.
“We just didn’t have long-run speed,” said Busch, who lost the lead for the final time in heavy traffic through Turns 1 and 2, after leading on five occasions for a total of 182 laps. “It”s tough to finish second, especially in the last go-round for the year.”
Ty Dillon ran third, followed by Daniel Hemric, Sadler, Christopher Bell, William Byron, Justin Allgaier and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Earnhardt’s No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet was the last car on the lead lap, thanks to the long green-flag run to finish the race — the same long run Keselowski was so glad to see.
By OVERTIME WITH OWENS STAFF
UNB! Network
– Tapwrit wins Belmont Stakes by 2 lengths for Pletcher
Tapwrit overtook favored Irish War Cry in the stretch to win by two lengths on Saturday, giving trainer Todd Pletcher his third career victory in the Belmont. He won in 2007 with filly Rags to Riches and in 2013 with Palace Malice.
– Brad Keselowski ends drought for No. 22 Ford with last-lap pass
With a dramatic last-lap pass – the first of the season in the NASCAR XFINITY Series – Brad Keselowski won Saturday’s Pocono Green 250 at Pocono Raceway, ending a 46-race drought for the No. 22 Team Penske Ford.
Keselowski swept the stages in the 100-lap event but couldn’t get past leader Kyle Larson until he reached the Long Pond straightaway on the final circuit. Keselowski powered off the first turn, down-shifted and blew past Larson before the cars reached the Tunnel Turn.
Justin Allgaier followed Keselowski past Larson and finished second, .615 seconds behind the race winner. Larson came home third, followed by Elliott Sadler and Daniel Suarez.
– Power wins wild IndyCar race at Texas under caution
Will Power, who led 180 of the 248 laps, won Saturday's Verizon IndyCar Series race at Texas under caution after Scott Dixon got wrecked by Takuma Sato, and finished ahead of Tony Kanaan, who other drivers and at least one owner blamed for a big crash earlier that led to a nearly 31-minute red flag.
“It was very intense,” Power said. “I could see Dixon was able to pass me at the start/finish line. So, I was starting to think about what I was going to do there at the end.”
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
LONG POND, Pa. –- With a dramatic last-lap pass – the first of the season in the NASCAR XFINITY Series – Brad Keselowski won Saturday’s Pocono Green 250 at Pocono Raceway, ending a 46-race drought for the No. 22 Team Penske Ford.
Keselowski swept the stages in the 100-lap event but couldn’t get past leader Kyle Larson until he reached the Long Pond straightaway on the final circuit. Keselowski powered off the first turn, down-shifted and blew past Larson before the cars reached the Tunnel Turn.
Justin Allgaier followed Keselowski past Larson and finished second, .615 seconds behind the race winner. Larson came home third, followed by Elliott Sadler and Daniel Suarez.
Keselowski’s victory didn’t come without a fight. On a restart with 16 laps left, after caution for Brandon Jones’ blown left rear tire and frontstetch wreck on Lap 78, Keselowski was on the inside of the front row, taking the green flag beside race leader Cole Custer.
A push from Elliott Sadler got Keselowski to the front, but Sadler continued the shove into Turn 1. Keselowski sailed high in the corner, narrowly keeping the no. 22 Mustang off the wall.
"I got a good push, but the push didn’t stop, and I found myself in the third lane in Turn 1, which is somewhere you don’t want to be," said Keselowski, who fell back to 13th in the running order. "I got down there and my rear tires were off the ground and went straight, trying not to back it into the wall. With fewer than 16 laps to get back to the front, Keselowski began to bull his way through the field. He split the two cars of Brendan Gaughan and polesitter Kyle Benjamin, bouncing off both in the process.
By Lap 97 he had reeled in Allgaier, and when the No. 7 Chevrolet slipped slightly, Keselowski charged past and took off after Larson. Then came the winning pass in Turn 1.
"I drove by a bunch of cars and just pushed as hard as I could," Keselowski said of his closing. "It looked like Kyle's car was struggling just a little bit and he was getting tight in the middle, loose off. He was doing a really good job holding it low so I couldn't get a run. Just on the last lap, I got on his bumper and got him loose.
"He was trying to do the side draft thing down the backstretch and all the way down the apron. That had to look pretty cool. Hell of a race. Really happy for the 22 team. It's been a while."
When Keselowski dropped back on the final restart, Larson found himself in a surprising position.
"I was not expecting to get the lead on that restart," Larson said. "Elliott gave Brad too good a push in Turn 1, and then Elliott overshot the Tunnel Turn."
After charging past Sadler on the restart lap, Larson protected his position until the first corner of the last lap.
"I couldn’t get back to the gas as quick as I wanted to – my car was just plowing – and Brad got a great run off the corner," Larson said.
Allgaier was disappointed with second place, but he had the consolation of assuming the series lead by one point over Sadler. Those two drivers are light years ahead of their JR Motorsports teammate, William Byron, who stands third, 62 points behind Allgaier.
On the eve of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut in the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr. finished 11th in his last scheduled ride in the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Mustang.
Wallace finishes his stint with RFR fourth in the series standings, 88 points behind the leader.
Benjamin led 28 laps in his second NASCAR XFINITY Series race – one fewer than Keselowski’s 29 – but fell back to 16th at the finish after the late contact with the eventual racer winner.
NASCAR XFINITY Series Race - Pocono Green 250
Pocono Raceway
Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Saturday, June 10, 2017
1. (8) Brad Keselowski(i), Ford, 100.
2. (4) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 100.
3. (6) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 100.
4. (18) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 100.
5. (7) Daniel Suarez(i), Toyota, 100.
6. (11) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 100.
7. (3) Cole Custer #, Ford, 100.
8. (15) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 100.
9. (2) Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 100.
10. (31) Matt Tifft #, Toyota, 100.
11. (13) Darrell Wallace Jr., Ford, 100.
12. (5) William Byron #, Chevrolet, 100.
13. (21) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 100.
14. (16) Ryan Reed, Ford, 100.
15. (10) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 100.
16. (1) Kyle Benjamin, Toyota, 100.
17. (25) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 100.
18. (14) Spencer Gallagher #, Chevrolet, 100.
19. (26) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 100.
20. (22) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 100.
21. (40) Casey Mears, Ford, 100.
22. (20) Dylan Lupton, Toyota, 100.
23. (19) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 100.
24. (24) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 100.
25. (32) David Starr, Chevrolet, 100.
26. (23) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 100.
27. (12) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 100.
28. (34) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 99.
29. (29) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, 98.
30. (30) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, 97.
31. (9) Paul Menard(i), Chevrolet, 97.
32. (36) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 97.
33. (37) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 97.
34. (39) Mike Harmon, Dodge, 95.
35. (35) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, Engine, 85.
36. (17) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, Accident, 77.
37. (27) Harrison Rhodes, Chevrolet, Clutch, 49.
38. (33) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Handling, 16.
39. (38) Carl Long, Dodge, Handling, 12.
40. (28) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, Brakes, 7.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 135.583 mph.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 50 Mins, 38 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.615 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 3 for 15 laps.
Lead Changes: 12 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K. Benjamin 1-21; B. Keselowski(i) 22-28; C. Custer # 29-38; B. Keselowski(i) 39-56; K. Benjamin 57-61; B. Keselowski(i) 62-63; K. Benjamin 64-65; D. Suarez(i) 66; J. Allgaier 67-79; C. Custer # 80-83; B. Keselowski(i) 84; K. Larson(i) 85-99; B. Keselowski(i) 100;.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): B. Keselowski(i) 5 times for 29 laps; K. Benjamin 3 times for 28 laps; K. Larson(i) 1 time for 15 laps; C. Custer # 2 times for 14 laps; J. Allgaier 1 time for 13 laps; D. Suarez(i) 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 22,20,42,2,18,7,9,21,3,48
Stage #2 Top Ten: 22,20,00,42,7,48,6,16,19,62
