Brad Keselowski takes his third win of NASCAR Sprint Cup season at Bristol

The 27-year-old was a top-five contender all night long and led the race at seven different times, initially thanks to staying out while the leaders pitted under the first caution. He would remain a threat from then on but never looked quite as dominant as both Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth did, the Hendrick driver leading the most laps while his Roush rival was up front for 110 of the 550 laps scheduled.

However Keselowski really surged when the green waved for the last time after a quick four-tyre stop placed him on the front row for the final restart. He quickly disposed of Michael Waltrip Racing's Martin Truex, who had gambled on a two-tyre stop, and as the battle for second got tighter behind him, Keselowski was able to pull away to take his first Cup win at Bristol - a result he found very meaningful.

"The night race at Bristol! This is the race that Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt won, it's the race of champions. I can't believe it," said a stunned Keselowski. "There are races that pay more. There are races that might have a little more prestige, but this is the coolest damn one of them all. We won it!"

Less than four weeks ago it was uncertain whether the Penske racer could complete the distance at Pocono following a testing crash at Road Atlanta, but since then Keselowski has been either first, second or third in every race, and has the best Cup finishing record for that period.

He is also now within reach of securing a Chase spot through being in the top 10 in the points, as he has jumped to 11th in the standings, only 21 points behind two-time champion Stewart, whose chances of making the play-off continue to dwindle every week. Keselowski also continues to be the leading wildcard entry to the Chase and has all but clinched a place in the play-off.

Behind Keselowski, Truex was able to hold off a charging Gordon as his tyre gamble paid off. The four-time Cup champion was probably the fastest during the night but better pitstops from rivals seemed to hamper his chances of claiming his third win of the season.

"It felt like we had the car to beat; but you know what, we just didn't get the position that we needed to on that last pitstop," said Gordon. "Our pit crew was awesome. Pit road is an interesting place here. We fought hard. That was just a great battle; a lot of fun racing, but just didn't quite have it there at the end."

Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson also led laps and was a top-five contender, beating Earnhardt Ganassi's impressive Jamie McMurray to fifth in the end, ahead of Kenseth. Both Johnson and Kenseth secured Chase spots with their finishes, as did Kenseth's team-mate Edwards with his ninth place at the flag.

Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin recovered from a spin to finish seventh, also moving up one spot in the points while provisionally hanging on to the final wildcard entry into the Chase only two weeks before the cut-off. Polesitter Ryan Newman was eighth while his Stewart Haas team-mate Stewart had a lacklustre night, finishing three laps down in 28th.

Australian Marcos Ambrose rounded out the top 10 for Richard Petty Motorsports in yet another good run at the half-mile concrete oval.

Points leader Kyle Busch finished 14th, recovering from contact after hitting the wall 85 laps from the end while fighting for position with Truex. His brother Kurt, also a Bristol specialist, was 17th after two pit road penalties hampered his efforts.

Results - 500 laps:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                          Time/Gap
 1.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Dodge                  2h45m16.000s
 2.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota                    + 0.951s
 3.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet                + 1.014s
 4.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet                + 2.382s
 5.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet       + 2.822s
 6.  Matt Kenseth        Roush Fenway Ford                 + 2.931s
 7.  Denny Hamlin        Gibbs Toyota                      + 7.773s
 8.  Ryan Newman         Stewart Haas Chevrolet            + 8.651s
 9.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford                 + 8.822s
10.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                        + 9.049s
11.  Kasey Kahne         Red Bull Toyota                   + 9.235s
12.  AJ Allmendinger     Petty Ford                        + 9.795s
13.  Joey Logano         Gibbs Toyota                     + 10.305s
14.  Kyle Busch          Gibbs Toyota                     + 12.208s
15.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet              + 13.410s
16.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet               + 13.958s
17.  Kurt Busch          Penske Dodge                     + 15.568s
18.  Regan Smith         Furniture Row Chevrolet          + 15.593s
19.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet      + 16.597s
20.  David Ragan         Roush Fenway Ford                + 16.789s
21.  Brian Vickers       Red Bull Toyota                    + 1 lap
22.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet                + 1 lap
23.  Casey Mears         Germain Toyota                     + 1 lap
24.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford                    + 2 laps
25.  Andy Lally          TRG Chevrolet                     + 2 laps
26.  Clint Bowyer        Childress Chevrolet               + 2 laps
27.  David Starr         Leavine Ford                      + 3 laps
28.  Tony Stewart        Stewart Haas Chevrolet            + 3 laps
29.  Mike Bliss          Phoenix Chevrolet                 + 3 laps
30.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet               + 4 laps
31.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford                 + 4 laps
32.  David Stremme       Inception Chevrolet               + 6 laps
33.  Terry Labonte       FAS Lane Ford                     + 6 laps

Retirements:

     Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota              471 laps
     Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet                 457 laps
     David Reutimann     Waltrip Toyota                   430 laps*
     Travis Kvapil       Front Row Ford                   371 laps*
     Mark Martin         Hendrick Chevrolet                363 laps
     Michael McDowell    HP Toyota                          49 laps
     Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                       42 laps
     Mike Skinner        Germain Toyota                     28 laps
     Scott Speed         Whitney Ford                       28 laps
     Robby Gordon        Gordon Dodge                       10 laps

* Running again at finish