Keselowski easily held off second-place finisher Erik Jones for the victory on Monday – his second of the NASCAR season and the 26th of his career.

It is also Keselowski’s second successive win following last week’s triumph at Darlington, while Team Penske reigned supreme in the Brickyard 400 for the first time.

A crash involving Landon Cassill and Jeffrey Earnhardt late in the race led to a caution and restart with three laps remaining.

Leader Denny Hamlin got out to a great restart, but second-place Clint Bowyer spun his tires, allowing Keselowski – who had much fresher tires than the leaders – to take second.

Keselowski and Hamlin then bumped and swapped sheet metal a couple of times racing side by side before the former sailed into the lead.

“I wish RP was here. I know he’s watching at home,” Keselowski told NBCSN afterward. “To get Roger Penske his first Cup win here at the Brickyard is great.”

The final-regular season race before the playoffs ended with no change in the driver standings in terms of the playoff field, as all the drivers on the bubble hoping to race their way in with a victory fell short.

The following 16 drivers will begin the 10-race playoffs at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on September 16: Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, Austin Dillon, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Aric Almirola, Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman.

0 votes