In a race that was dominated by championship hopeful Jimmie Johnson, the champ Brad Keselowski utilized a late-race restart to fight his way past Hendrick Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne for his first win of the season in the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion. His 10th career Sprint Cup win also marked his first win with Ford since his team switched manufacturers at the end of his championship season.
The Bank of America 500, the fifth race in NASCAR’s chase was dubbed a snoozer by many on the ground. A lack of passes, very few cautions and Johnson’s sole control of the top spot was going to make for typical dismal stories. Then, the mysterious debris caution came, just 26 laps from the finish. And changed the complexion of the race.
The fourth and final caution of the contest sent all the lead-lap teams, less than 15 of them to pit road for fuel and tires. Kasey Kahne utilized just a two-tire stop to inherit the lead.
On the restart, Kahne pulled away, while five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson stumbled and faded quickly. For a minute, it appeared that Matt Kenseth, who qualified 20th and led just a single-lap would battle it out with Kahne for the win, then came the reigning Penske Racing champion, Keselowski.
Where did he come from?
For several laps, Keselowski and Kahne put on a whopper of a battle for possession of the lead, before Keselowski fired his blue oval around the No. 5 Quaker State Chevrolet SS and led the final 10 laps to score his first triumph since Dover (Del.) International Speedway last September.
“It was just a never-give-up night,” sounded Keselowski. “We had a lot of struggles tonight. We didn’t qualify well, but we kept working our way forward. I knew we had a good car. I’m not sure we were as good as the 48 or the 5. I never got to really race them until the end and they had two tires, so I think we were probably pretty even. When Paul (Wolfe) made the call to take four tires and I saw we were that close to the front, I knew we could get them.
“I love hard racing and there are a handful of guys you can’t race hard with in this deal because they freak out, but Kasey (Kahne) is not one of them. He’s an excellent driver and he ran me hard, but he ran me clean and that’s great racing. I’m proud to race with him. He did a helluva job and deserves a lot of credit for it, but, at the end of the day, the Miller Lite Ford Fusion was just fast and we persevered.”
It was the first time since Jamie McMurray won at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway in 2011 where a non-chase driver won a chase race.
Kahne delivered his fifth runner-up of the year and notched his 12th top-10 performance of the year, but maintains in the championship chase. “Yeah, we had a great race. I was on two (tires) and he was on four (tires) and he could just move around a little bit better. I was trying to move around, but I was just a little bit on the tight side with the front end, then I would get loose if I got the front working. I was doing all I could and felt pretty good, but he made some nice moves and just really had some speed there late in the race and was able to get by me,” offered Kahne.
Kenseth in a pink-themed No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry had a quite night at CMS, but sometimes championships are won by just playing it safe. Kenseth did just that, noting that Saturday night was “successful.” He maintains just a slim four-point lead over Johnson.
Kyle Busch after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Friday night, recovered nicely from his Kansas Speedway catastrophe to finish fifth, but the Las Vegas, Nevada native still didn’t seem satisfied with the finish. “What we need is wins and we can’t win,” said Busch.
Kevin Harvick, last week’s winner struggled with the handling on his No. 29 Jimmy Johns Chevrolet SS, but a relentless attitude by the Richard Childress Racing team kept their driver still in this championship chase.
Jeff Gordon after having a strong No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet SS in the early stages of the event faded late to finish seventh, while Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin enjoyed quiet, but much needed strong runs to take eighth and ninth respectively. Hamlin last saw a top-10 finish in Cup competition at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in June, 17 races ago.
Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards completed the top-10, putting just two Fords inside the top-10 in the 31st race of the season.
A frustrated Clint Bowyer finished 11th on seven cylinders in his No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry.
Other chase drivers: Kurt Busch (14th), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (15th), Greg Biffle (16th) and Joey Logano (18th).
Danica Patrick, after striking out in the first corner last Sunday at Kansas Speedway redeemed herself with a top-20 finish in her No. 10 Go Daddy Breast Cancer Awareness Chevrolet SS.
Jeff Burton and Martin Truex Jr., both had to pit late and salvaged 21st and 22nd place finishes respectivly.
Brian Scott in his, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut finished a respectable 27th in his No. 33 Shore Lodge Chevrolet SS. Scott, the full-time NASCAR Nationwide Series driver for RCR battled his handling throughout the night, fighting both loose and tight conditions.
Germain Racing’s change to Chevrolet and a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing can’t come soon enough after only managing a 31st place finish in his No. 13 GEICO Ford Fusion. Mears, a former Charlotte Motor Speedway winner hasn’t finished inside the top-10, but once at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in July.
Cole Whitt in his fourth start for SWAN Racing finished 34th. His best effort with the No. 30 Toyota program is 27th at Dover (Del.) International Speedway last month.
Kyle Larson in his Sprint Cup debut had an impressive run going in the No. 51 Target Chevrolet SS, but within 100 laps of the finish, his Hendrick Motorsports engine began to cease. Larson eventually took his bow-tie to the garage and finished a disappointing 37th.
Before that though, the Nationwide Series standout proved he has what it takes to be consistent, solid and yes, even spectacular, running 11th at one point. Good things are on the horizon for the 21-year old soon-to-be NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie.
Behind Larson followed Blake Koch, also in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut, then Joe Nemechek, Michael McDowell, Josh Wise, Mark Martin (engine failure) and J.J. Yeley (the lone car to wreck).
Next up for the NSCS is the “wildcard” of the 2013 season, the Camping World RV Sales 500 from Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on Sunday, October 20. The 32nd race of the season and sixth in the Chase is will air live on ESPN, SiriusXM Satellite Radio and the Motor Racing Network (MRN).
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.