Keselowski dominates Richmond

Keselowski celebrates

Mike Mercurio/AR1

Brad Keselowski ran away from the field to score an impressive victory in Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway to secure the top seed in the Chase for the Sprint Cup in the final race of NASCAR’s regular season.

The 2012 Sprint Cup Champion led 383 of the 400 lap distance including the final 274 laps, easily beating out Jeff Gordon by 0.797 seconds to collect his series-leading fourth victory of the season and the 400th overall Motorsports victory for team owner Roger Penske.

Clint Bowyer finished third but missed out on a spot in the Chase by seven points behind Greg Biffle. Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick made up the rest of the top five.

Ryan Newman finished ninth and claimed the last spot in the Chase field.

Keselowski’s victory gives him the top seed in the 16-driver Chase field, giving him a three-point cushion over Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano – all with three wins apiece.

"What a night. Part of me, when I pulled into Victory Lane I pinched myself once to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. These are nights you don’t forget as a driver and you live for," said Keselowski. "It was just a phenomenal night for our team here and everyone at Team Penske. Car was fast. Pit crew was flawless. We put all the pieces together tonight.

"I couldn’t ask for a better way to enter the Chase than to come in with a win and take the first seed and we’re ready."

Keselowski started on the pole was the class of the field from the start, losing the lead on the track twice to Harvick, who in turn lost the lead back to Keselowski on pit road.

Only four caution flags slowed the field – including one with 69 laps to go for a fan that climbed onto the turn four catch fence. On each restart, Keselowski was able to pull away, at one point opening up a 2.5 second lead.

Harvick looked to have the best shot at catching Keselowski in the early part of the race, finding speed in the high groove much like his did in Friday night’s Nationwide Series race.

Harvick twice passed Keselowski for the lead – the only lead changes of the race – only to lose the lead on pit road, with slow pit stops that have plagued his team all season.

"I can't fix them – that's not my department," Harvick said of the pit road issues. "It's probably the biggest thing that we have to fix in order to contend for the championship. I think our cars are as fast as they need to be. The guys do a great job of bringing fast cars every week. It's just one mistake after another every week on pit road."

Despite his third-place finish, Bowyer fell short of making the Chase field. He steadily made his way through the field up as high as second place, but needed Biffle to finish worse than 22nd. Biffle ended up 19th, and Bowyer found himself on the outside looking in, missing the Chase for the third time in his career.

"Coming in here after last week, knew it was a long shot," said Bowyer. "The boys brought in the best they could possibly build, put a lot of effort into it, I raced as hard as I could.

"If you make the Chase you want to compete for a championship. Truth be told, we're not there right now. A lot of work to do. We've got to continue to build on momentum like we had here tonight. It’s definitely frustrating not making that Chase, but like I said, when you do make the Chase, you want it to be for a championship, not just ride around in it."

Jeff Gordon gets quick pit work and was catching Keselowski at the end

Harold Hinson/HHP and General Motors

Gordon had started on the outside pole and stayed in the top five for much of the race, getting past Bowyer for second with 80 laps to go, but after Keselowski got going after the last caution flag, Gordon was left playing catch-up until the finish.

Gordon’s runner-up finish was just his second top-five in his last five races, but when he heads to Chicagoland next weekend, he’ll be the second seed in the Chase field.

"I didn't feel like we had a car that could compete with Brad (Keselowski) at certain portions of the night, but we just never gave up on it," said Gordon. "Great pit stops, great adjustments, and there at the end we were closing on him. It wasn't a win, but still great momentum to carry into the Chase. This team is on fire, and we just can't wait to get it all started."

Defending Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson finished eighth but had to be taken to the infield care center after suffering from heat exhaustion. He was treated for dehydration and released.

Results – 400 laps: