Kentucky NASCAR: Brad Keselowski dominates night race
Brad Keselowski dominated from pole to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup night race at Kentucky Speedway
Having swept the front row in Friday's qualifying session, Keselowski and Penske team-mate Joey Logano were untouchable for most of the race as well, with 2012 champion Keselowski leading 199 of the 267 laps.
Keselowski lost the lead to Logano during pitstops on three occasions, but he was always able to repass the sister car on track soon afterwards.
The only man other than the Penske duo to hold first place at any stage was Kyle Busch, who was one of several driver to vault to the front by virtue of good pitstop timing when the final yellow of the race came out.
That shuffle was the sole time all night that Keselowski had traffic to deal with, but his Ford proved just as competitive as it had in clean air, and he was swiftly back in front.
Logano would not join him there in the end, though, as a misfire on his car meant he only finished ninth.
Joe Gibbs Toyota racer Busch remained second, taking the flag 1.015 seconds behind Keselowski.
Ryan Newman's third place was his first top-five finish since joining Richard Childress Racing.
Matt Kenseth took fourth, while after its mediocre qualifying session, Hendrick got all four cars in the top 10 - Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson taking fifth, sixth, eighth and 10th, with Kevin Harvick sandwiched among them in seventh.
Both Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson crashed early on due to blown tyres while among the frontrunners.
Results - 267 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Brad Keselowski Penske Ford 2h51m59.000s 2. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota +1.015s 3. Ryan Newman Childress Chevrolet +2.191s 4. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota +3.895s 5. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet +4.795s 6. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet +5.198s 7. Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +7.668s 8. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet +11.495s 9. Joey Logano Penske Ford +12.228s 10. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet +14.145s 11. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +17.929s 12. Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +18.613s 13. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford +21.471s 14. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford +21.891s 15. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet +23.027s 16. Austin Dillon Childress Chevrolet +27.518s 17. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford +29.318s 18. Michael Annett Baldwin Chevrolet +29.907s 19. Martin Truex Jr Furniture Row Chevrolet +30.632s 20. Casey Mears Germain Chevrolet +31.350s 21. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +31.472s 22. AJ Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Chevrolet -1 lap 23. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota -1 lap 24. Justin Allgaier Hscott Chevrolet -1 lap 25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford -1 lap 26. Brian Vickers Waltrip Toyota -1 lap 27. Reed Sorenson Baldwin Chevrolet -2 laps 28. Cole Whitt BK Toyota -3 laps 29. Josh Wise Parsons Chevrolet -4 laps 30. David Gilliland Front Row Ford -4 laps 31. David Ragan Front Row Ford -5 laps 32. Landon Cassill Hillman Chevrolet -5 laps 33. Ryan Truex BK Toyota -6 laps 34. Travis Kvapil FAS Lane Ford -8 laps 35. David Stremme Circle Sport Chevrolet -10 laps 36. Alex Bowman BK Toyota -12 laps 37. Jamie McMurray Ganassi Chevrolet -17 laps 38. Joe Nemechek Robinson Toyota -28 laps Retirements: Aric Almirola Petty Ford 175 laps Kyle Larson Ganassi Chevrolet 75 laps Mike Bliss BK Toyota 30 laps Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Toyota 27 laps
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