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Las Vegas NASCAR: Brad Keselowski charges to win after penalty

Brad Keselowski produced a late surge to blast to his 18th career NASCAR Sprint Cup race win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

The Team Penske star dived past local hero Kyle Busch with six laps remaining and went on to finish ahead of team-mate Joey Logano, and Jimmie Johnson.

Keselowski had served a penalty for speeding in the pitlane mid-way through the race, but a series of cautions brought him back into play.

And he made the most of his luck, as he ruthlessly dispatched Busch and Logano on his way to the chequered flag.

Busch seemed destined to win his home race for the second time when it restarted after a sixth caution, but a vibration on his right front tyre hampered him.

A daring overtake on lap 224 took him from sixth to first, before his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota let him down in the final stages and he slumped to fourth.

His brother Kurt Busch dominated the early stages of the race, but a penalty for speeding in the pitlane dropped him out of race-winning contention.

This let in Logano and Johnson, who both led for long periods through the middle of the race, along with Matt Kenseth.

But Kenseth's charge ended on lap 225 when he lost control of his JGR Toyota and sparked a multi-car crash.

High winds caused chaos in the Nevada desert throughout the race, as debris continually flew across the track.

This caused two of the six yellows, including the one under which Keselowski incurred his penalty.

But two late cautions, for a Kyle Larson spin and Kenseth's crash, brought him back into contention and set up his final charge.

RESULTS - 267 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 2h53m55.s
2 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 0.675s
3 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet s
4 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 0.830s
5 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1.282s
6 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 1.911s
7 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 2.399s
8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 5.622s
9 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 6.064s
10 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 8.928s
11 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 12.065s
12 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 12.065s
13 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 12.902s
14 A.J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 13.117s
15 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 13.367s
16 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 14.858s
17 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 14.867s
18 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 15.085s
19 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 16.254s
20 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 16.659s
21 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 18.013s
22 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 20.270s
23 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 23.116s
24 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 1 Lap
25 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
26 Chris Buescher Front Row Motorsports Ford 1 Lap
27 Brian Scott Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 1 Lap
28 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 1 Lap
29 Michael McDowell Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
30 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 2 Laps
31 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 4 Laps
32 David Ragan BK Racing Toyota 5 Laps
33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Go FAS Racing Ford 5 Laps
34 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 5 Laps
35 Josh Wise The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 8 Laps
36 Brian Vickers Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 10 Laps
37 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Accident
38 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Accident
39 Cole Whitt Premium Motorsports Chevrolet Vibration

LEADING CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

Pos Driver Points
1 Kyle Busch 116
2 Jimmie Johnson 110
3 Kevin Harvick 109
4 Joey Logano 104
5 Kurt Busch 102
6 Brad Keselowski 98
7 Carl Edwards 96
8 Denny Hamlin 93
9 Martin Truex Jr. 90
10 Austin Dillon 90
11 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 79
12 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 78
13 Kasey Kahne 77
14 Ryan Blaney 73
15 Aric Almirola 72
16 Jamie McMurray 69
17 Ryan Newman 66
18 Paul Menard 62
19 Regan Smith 57
20 Kyle Larson 56

PROVISIONALLY IN THE CHASE: Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski

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