Brad Keselowski had just enough gas in the tank to take the checkered flag at NASCAR Sprint Cup's Quaker State 400 from Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night.
It's his fourth win of the season and his second in as many weeks after he won the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona last time out.
Here are the full results of the race and the updated driver standings:
Place | Driver | Behind |
1 | Brad Keselowski | - |
2 | Carl Edwards | 0.175 |
3 | Ryan Newman | 2.318 |
4 | Kurt Busch | 8.035 |
5 | Tony Stewart | 14.859 |
6 | Greg Biffle | 15.046 |
7 | Jamie McMurray | 16.767 |
8 | Matt Kenseth | 17.419 |
9 | Kevin Harvick | 17.721 |
10 | Martin Truex Jr. | 18.106 |
11 | Trevor Bayne | 19.519 |
12 | Kyle Busch | 19.669 |
13 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 20.270 |
14 | Kasey Kahne | 21.128 |
15 | Denny Hamlin | 23.090 |
16 | Austin Dillon | 25.965 |
17 | Danica Patrick | 1 Lap |
18 | Paul Menard | 1 Lap |
19 | Kye Larson | 1 Lap |
20 | Aric Almirola | 14.795 |
21 | Cole Whitt | 1 Lap |
22 | David Ragan | 2 Laps |
23 | Clint Bowyer | 2 Laps |
24 | Josh Wise | 3 Laps |
25 | Ty Dillon | 3 Laps |
26 | Michael Annett | 3 Laps |
27 | Reed Sorenson | 5 Laps |
28 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 5 Laps |
29 | Landon Cassill | 6 Laps |
30 | Casey Mears | 6 Laps |
31 | Chase Elliott | 21 Laps |
32 | Jimmie Johnson | 57 Laps |
33 | Brian Scott | 59 Laps |
34 | Regan Smith | 116 Laps |
35 | Ryan Blaney | 117 Laps |
36 | AJ Allmendinger | 124 Laps |
37 | Chris Buescher | 164 Laps |
38 | Matt DiBenedetto | 175 Laps |
39 | Joey Logano | 215 Laps |
40 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 258 Laps |
Place | Driver | Points |
1 | Kevin Harvick | 599 |
2 | Brad Keselowski | 595 |
3 | Kurt Busch | 583 |
4 | Carl Edwards | 566 |
5 | Joey Logano | 533 |
6 | Kyle Busch | 521 |
7 | Martin Truex Jr. | 514 |
8 | Chase Elliott | 492 |
9 | Jimmie Johnson | 484 |
10 | Matt Kenseth | 477 |
11 | Denny Hamlin | 472 |
12 | Ryan Newman | 463 |
13 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 461 |
14 | Austin Dillon | 460 |
15 | Jamie McMurray | 439 |
16 | Trevor Bayne | 429 |
In a race with 11 cautions, the final 69 laps were contested under the green flag, as the Quaker State 400 became a fuel-mileage affair. Keselowski made only four pit stops during the entire 267-lap race and ran the final 71 laps without a break.
With no stoppages or pits, that meant Keselowski, like most racers, was running low on gas as the race neared its finish. But his ability to stay on the track for that amount of time helped him open up a big lead.
With five laps to go, the lead was almost nine seconds, but Keselowski was forced to slow things down in order to conserve fuel. Carl Edwards managed to close the gap with a couple of laps to go and headed into the final lap with a two-second deficit.
But Keselowski managed to shake enough up in the tank to pick up his speed and pull away just a bit. He created a large enough cushion where he was able to win his second straight race despite having no fuel left on Turn 4, via Jim Utter of Motorsport.com.
Fox Sports: NASCAR showed the finish:
Stating that Keselowski had no fuel left wasn't an exaggeration either, as he needed help just getting to victory lane, via NASCAR:
His ability to make it past the finish line shocked WVLT's Daryl Hobby:
no idea how these guys save fuel and still drive 100+ miles an hour... but kudos to @keselowski that's gotta be some serious driving talent
— Daryl Hobby (@WVLTdaryl) July 10, 2016
It even impressed the second-place Edwards, even if he wasn't happy about his finish when speaking after the race, via NASCAR:
Keselowski picked up his lead on the 200th lap and didn't relinquish it, overtaking Kevin Harvick, who led for just two laps.
He had taken the lead from Martin Truex Jr., who was penalized coming out of pit road on Lap 198 and was forced to move back to 22nd. He flew back into contention, getting to as close as third through 239 laps, but faded back to finish in 10th.
Ryan Newman finished third and was the only other driver who was within three seconds of the top two. Fourth-place Kurt Busch was more than eight seconds behind.
The win brought Keselowski within four points of Harvick, who finished in ninth, in the Sprint Cup standings.
Keselowski will look to carry this momentum up to New Hampshire and take the standings lead, as the next race on NASCAR's schedule comes in the form of the New Hampshire 301. In a race that's 99 miles shorter than the Quaker State 400, fuel might not be as big of a problem as it was Saturday night in Kentucky.
Stats courtesy of NASCAR.com.
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