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Fontana NASCAR: Penske's Brad Keselowski grabs win on final lap

Brad Keselowski completed a spectacular comeback to take Fontana NASCAR Sprint Cup victory on the second green-white-chequered restart

Keselowski dived down the inside of Stewart-Haas' polesitter and long-time race leader Kurt Busch at Turn 1 and completed the move at the exit of Turn 2 on the final lap of the race.

The late-race restarts suited Keselowski as his Penske Ford was stronger on short runs, and the 2012 champion was also one of the few frontrunners to grab four fresh tyres at the last stops.

Kevin Harvick earned second after winning the previous two races at Las Vegas and Phoenix respectively. His streak of top two finishes extended to eight, as he beat team-mate Busch on the run to the chequered flag after Busch hit the wall trying to repass Keselowski.

Paul Menard was in and out of the top 10 all race and guided his Richard Childress Chevrolet home to fourth in the late-race madness ahead of in-form team-mate Ryan Newman and Hendrick Motorsports' Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Keselowski's team-mate Joey Logano completed a comeback drive to secure seventh, after a pitlane penalty had forced him to drop down the order from the top-10 spot he had occupied for most of the race.

Martin Truex Jr joined Logano and Harvick as the only drivers to finish in the top 10 at every race this year as he took eighth.

Joe Gibbs Racing had a nightmare day at the Fontana circuit, with two of its cars dropping out of the top five at the caution period on lap 184 of the planned 200.

Denny Hamlin - who led 56 laps in the first half of the race - suffered from a tyre penalty in the pitlane, with NASCAR officials ruling that a wheel was uncontrolled when taken off the car.

Hamlin ended up 28th, continuing his unlucky run at a venue where he missed the race last year through an eye injury and sustained a back fracture in a last-lap clash with Logano when fighting for the lead in 2013.

On the same pitstop, Matt Kenseth broke an axle when his #20 car was dropped off the jack after changing four tyres. He had been leading the race at the time and consistently had the quickest pitstops all day, which had kept him at the front of the pack.

Another Gibbs car had suffered earlier when second-row qualifier David Ragan spun out on lap 22 while racing side by side with Jeff Gordon. Ragan, who had been strong throughout practice, then picked up a penalty after a tyre rolled away in the pitlane - the same issue that later caught out Hamlin - and finished 18th.

For the first time since Indianapolis in 2013, all 43 starters finished the race still running.

RESULTS - 209 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 2h58m18.s
2 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 0.710s
3 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 0.833s
4 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1.797s
5 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 2.641s
6 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2.851s
7 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 2.948s
8 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 3.226s
9 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3.288s
10 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3.534s
11 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 3.938s
12 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 4.022s
13 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 4.345s
14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 4.641s
15 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 4.733s
16 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4.860s
17 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 4.936s
18 David Ragan Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 5.047s
19 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 5.097s
20 Chris Buescher Front Row Motorsports Ford 5.111s
21 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 5.393s
22 Brett Moffitt Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 5.496s
23 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 6.147s
24 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 6.171s
25 Landon Cassill Hillman Smith Motorsports Chevrolet 6.533s
26 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 6.546s
27 Brian Scott Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 6.826s
28 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 6.929s
29 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7.450s
30 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 23.326s
31 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota s
32 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford s
33 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
34 A.J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
35 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 1 Lap
36 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 2 Laps
37 J.J. Yeley BK Racing Toyota 3 Laps
38 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 3 Laps
39 Jeb Burton BK Racing Toyota 4 Laps
40 Mike Bliss Go FAS Racing Ford 4 Laps
41 Brendan Gaughan Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 4 Laps
42 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 6 Laps
43 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 54 Laps

LEADING CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

Pos Driver Points
1 Kevin Harvick 225
2 Joey Logano 197
3 Martin Truex Jr. 192
4 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 164
5 Brad Keselowski 163
6 Jimmie Johnson 159
7 Kasey Kahne 159
8 Paul Menard 152
9 Aric Almirola 138
10 A.J. Allmendinger 137
11 Casey Mears 132
12 Matt Kenseth 127
13 Denny Hamlin 125
14 David Ragan 124
15 Jamie McMurray 120
16 Carl Edwards 120
17 Kyle Larson 116
18 Austin Dillon 116
19 Clint Bowyer 115
20 Greg Biffle 113
21 Ryan Newman 112
22 Jeff Gordon 112
23 Danica Patrick 111
24 Justin Allgaier 102
25 David Gilliland 101

Chase places secured: Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski

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