Sunday afternoon the NASCAR Sprint Cup series headed to Kansas Speedway for the first of two trips to the land of Oz. A very hot and slick track set up for a wild race and what turned out to be a streak breaking win.
Bad Brad back to victory lane…
It wasn’t easy nor was it pretty for Brad Keselowski. He started mid pack but quietly worked his way up into the top 15. Keselowski was running well but got off the pit cycle with the leaders and on lap 210 they made their final stop off the day.
Keselowski then had to hold off a hard charging Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Denny Hamlin. Keselowski was able to save enough fuel to make it to the end. He earned his first win in 61 races and his last win was the controversial win at Talladega in 2009. Keselowski sits 21st in the standings and if he can gain some more points and a few more wins he has all but locked his way into the Chase.
Penske Power
While his teammate was in victory lane celebrating his first win of the season, Kurt Busch finished ninth after leading 152 laps on the day. After a month of radio rants over displeasure over how he was running, Busch in recent weeks has been running better. He finished fourth last weekend at Charlotte and this week he earned the pole and was the best car all day.
Busch was forced to pit for fuel with 10 laps to go but without a caution he would be unable to make up any ground. Busch is sitting sixth in the standings but will have to wait till Pocono to try and get that first win of the season.
Gaining ground…
For both Denny Hamlin and Jeff Gordon they don’t expect to be outside the Chase looking in but here we are halfway to the Chase and Hamlin’s third place finish put him 11th in the points. He had a solid day going and was running up front. Forced to pit on lap 163 and set in place is strategy of only having to make one more stop while almost everyone else had to make two more. As the pit cycles followed through Hamlin found himself in the top five. Keselowski won the race but his third place finish puts him right back in the hunt of the Chase.
For Gordon his season has been up and down. They have struggled on mile and half tracks but in the last month they have gained ground. Last week at Charlotte they ran well but forced to pit late for fuel and a caution trapped them down a lap. This week Gordon had a fast car and made his way into the top 10 after starting 22nd. The team made all the right adjustments and Gordon found himself in the top five just after 100 laps. Gordon would be forced to pit in the final 20 laps but went on to finish fourth. A much needed finish and he moved to 13th in the standings.
Lugnuts…
- Jamie McMurray was hoping to bring his hometown of Joplin, Missouri something to smile about. McMurray started sixth but struggled all day. They ended up finishing 29th and one lap down.
- For the second week in a row Carl Edwards looked like he had a car to contend for the win but the changing track conditions saw him struggle. Edwards would finish fifth and maintain his points lead.
- After a very eventful Saturday night for Kyle Busch on Sunday he led 11 laps on his way to a 12th place finish.
To see the rest of the final results click here and for the complete standings click here.
Next up is Pocono Raceway Sunday at 1ET on TNT.
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