Daytona NASCAR: Brad Keselowski wins night race for Penske

The determined Penske driver moved up from fifth into the front two rows of the drafting pack early on and held his position, despite suffering overheating trouble after debris got caught in his Ford's radiator on lap 63 of the planned 160.

He took the lead from Denny Hamlin just past half-distance and only occasionally lost it to the aggressive challenges of Kurt and Kyle Busch and team-mate Logano.

Starting the tense final lap, Keselowski led a three-wide team of pursuers that then lost a follower when Kurt Busch spun out at the final turn.

His brother Kyle, Trevor Bayne and Logano followed Keselowski over the line.

Keselowski's constant presence up front saved him from getting caught up in a major incident just over halfway through, caused when Jimmie Johnson slid his Hendrick Chevrolet across the track and collided with Jamie McMurray, taking out half the pack.

After contact with the Ganassi driver, Johnson lost the back end, spun and set off a crash that involved 22 cars, resulting in several retirements including Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick and Paul Menard.

Harvick experienced the worst of the incident when Brian Scott's Richard Petty Ford flew over his windscreen and took them both out of the race. Scott described the crash as "one of the more wild wrecks" he's been involved in.

Polesitter Greg Biffle also lost out heavily during the pile-up, restarting in 23rd and then receiving a penalty during the next round of pitstops for having too many crew members over the wall. Despite that, he bought his Roush Fenway Ford home to finish eighth.

Last week's surprise Sonoma winner Tony Stewart had his hopes dashed late in the night when his Chevrolet suffered from oversteer with 12 laps left and he overcorrected, causing him to drift sideways and catch the cars of Casey Mears and Carl Edwards before cruising to a stop and retiring.

Even so, being classified 26th earned Stewart enough points to edge into the top-30 championship position he requires to be Chase eligible given his injury absence earlier in the year.

RESULTS - 161 LAPS:

CURRENT CHASE FIELD

From wins: Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart

On points: Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Ryan Newman, Ryan Blaney