Keselowski wins at Brickyard for Penske
INDIANAPOLIS – After three days of inclement weather kept NASCAR off the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the rain finally relented long enough to allow for the 25th running of the Brickyard 400.
In front of a sparse crowd of about 10,000 fans after rain postponed Sunday’s scheduled start, Brad Keselowski charged past Denny Hamlin on Monday on a late restart to cross the yard of bricks first to earn his second win in two weeks and first in one of NASCAR’s premier races. He also won last weekend’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Keselowski’s victory in the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard gives team owner Roger Penske — who has celebrated 17 Indianapolis 500 wins — his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win at the legendary racetrack. Penske can also claim additional bragging rights after sweeping both races this year, following Will Power’s win in the 102nd Indy 500.
“To get Roger Penske his first Cup car win here at The Brickyard is just an incredible feeling,” Keselowski said in victory lane. “I’m so happy for everybody at Team Penske.”
For Keselowski, while it was his first Brickyard 400 win, it was his second victory at IMS. The Penske driver won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race here in 2012.
Keselowski took advantage of fresher tires on a restart with three laps remaining to chase down Hamlin.
The two banged doors as they motored around the backstretch before Keselowski was able to shoot past the Joe Gibbs Racing driver on the front straightaway.
“It’s incredible,” Keselowski said. “Last year I lost this race almost the exact same way, and to bring it home this way, it feels really good to make up for my messed-up last year.
“The call made today was just phenomenal. We weren’t the fastest car by far but this team just never gave up on it, made the most of the strategy and executed a perfect race. And that’s something I’m so proud of.”
Erik Jones finished second, Hamlin third and Kevin Harvick fourth. Clint Bowyer, who took the opening stage, finished fifth.
Kyle Busch finished eighth, but that was enough to clinch the regular-season championship.