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Race Central Stories

Then There Were 16 – The Chase Grid is Set for the 2014 Sprint Cup Championship

With only two more positions to be filled, and one race remaining, Saturday’s race at Richmond International Raceway held the promise of a no holds barred, fight to the finish. Instead it delivered an uneventful event but a dominant fourth win by Brad Keselowski who led 383 out of 400 laps. His fourth win also puts him atop the Chase Grid.

Keselowski was thrilled saying, “What a night! Part of me, I pulled into victory lane and 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. The Miller Lite Ford Fusion was just flying, and this is, I couldn’t ask for a better way to enter the Chase than to win and take the first seed.”

Greg Biffle held on with a 19th place finish to make the Chase by seven points and is seeded 15th on the Chase Grid. Ryan Newman finished ninth to secure the 16^th spot.

The points have been reset and all of the 16 drivers in the Chase Grid begin with 2000 points. Three additional bonus points are given for each win during the 26 race regular season.

Keselowski is first with 2012 points. Positions second through fifth are held by the drivers who earned three victories each during the regular season accumulating 2009 points each. Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano are in positions second through fifth, respectively.

Jeff Gordon finished second at Richmond but is excited to begin the Chase.

“This team is on fire, and we just can’t wait to get it all started,” he said. “It’s been a heck of a year. Our fans and the way that they’ve embraced this season has been extremely motivating, and I know how proud they are. And we’re proud of the effort and the results that we’re getting this year. Ten more weeks that we’ve got to get it done, and this team is ready to do that.”

Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick, with two wins and 2006 points each, are sixth and seventh.

The drivers with one win during the regular season begin the Chase with 2003 points. Positions eighth through 13th, in order, are held by Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, Aric Almirola, and AJ Allmendinger.

Matt Kenseth, with zero wins and 2000 points is in the 14th spot and is joined by Greg Biffle (15th) and Ryan Newman (16th), also with 2000 points each to complete the Chase Grid.

Next week on September 14, the series travels to Chicagoland, the first of three races in the Challenger Round. Then it’s on to New Hampshire on September 21 and the final race in this round which is at Dover on September 28.

The Challenger Round – 3 Races/16 Drivers: At the end of the Challenger Round, the top 12 drivers will advance to the Contender Round. Win a race in the Challenger Round and you automatically advance to the Contender Round. The remaining top 12 drivers will be set by points. All drivers who advance will then have their points total reset to 3000 for the Contender Round.

The Contender Round – 3 Races/12 Drivers (Kansas, Charlotte, Talladega): At the end of the Contender Round, the top eight drivers will advance to the Eliminator Round. Win a race in the Contender Round and you automatically advance to the Eliminator Round. The remaining top eight drivers will be set by points. All drivers who advance will then have their points total reset to 4000.

The Eliminator Round – 3 Races/8 Drivers (Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix): At the end of the Eliminator Round, the top four drivers will advance to the final Championship Round. Win a race in the Eliminator Round and you automatically advance to the Championship Round. The remaining top four drivers will be set by points. All drivers who advance will then have their points total reset to 5000.

The Sprint Cup Championship – 1 Race/4 Drivers: The final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway will determine the new champion. The first to cross the finish line of the remaining four eligible drivers will be the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion.

September 7, 2014
Pure Domination by Keselowski at Richmond

September 7, 2014

Kyle Busch Schools the Field at Richmond

Kyle Busch taught the field how to dominate a race in the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 Nationwide Series race at Richmond International Raceway. He took the green flag and didn’t look back, leading all 250 laps without relinquishing the lead once, in a commanding victory. Busch had control of the race right from the start, although some got close, none would get close enough. Not even six cautions for 38 laps would slow him down. This however, isn’t new to Busch, as the last driver to lead every lap in a Nationwide Series race was, yes you guessed it, Busch himself. In Phoenix in 2011 he led all 200 laps from the pole. This was Busch’s 67th win and 42nd pole in 289 Nationwide Series races.

“It’s been a while, if you think about it,” said Busch, who hasn’t won a Nationwide race at Richmond since 2011. “We’ve had a lot of bad luck lately, and it feels good, trying to get some mojo back, get ready for tomorrow night (Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race), see what we can salvage there and roll on into the Chase.”

“All in all, the guys did a great job,” Busch continued. “They were really smart about what they needed, what we needed, what I needed.”

Coming in second and still keeping his points lead, was race phenom Chase Elliott who is having a storybook season so far. He was gaining on Busch but Busch had everything going his way tonight and it was just not meant to happen.

“I thought we had a really good NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet,” Elliott stated, “We made gains really throughout the night and we were getting closer and closer. I think we were actually better than where we were in the spring when we were able to outrun Kevin (Harvick).”

Kevin Harvick, in spite of having an ill handling car at times, came in third after starting 15th. Harvick and Chase Elliott swapped second place several times. Harvick was also making good long runs and at times looked as if he would be able to challenge Busch at the end, but his car was not able to handle as well in short runs and he was unable to gain past third.

“Kyle had a much better car and was able to take off on the short runs and get way out there,” said Harvick, who thought he might have been able to catch Busch during the final run, if not for the caution.” We were off all weekend for whatever reason and I just never really could get the grasp on it, we had a good long run car but that was about it.”

Ryan Blaney in the No.22 had a good run finishing in fourth place. Richard Childress Racing driver Brian Scott captured a fifth place finish.

Driver Regan Smith is having a great season and brought home sixth place. Dakoda Armstrong would bring home his best finish to date in seventh place, prior to that his best finish was 10th.

Rounding out the top ten finishers was Elliott Sadler in eighth, Ty Dillon in ninth place, and Chris Buescher finished the night in 10th place.

The Nationwide Series next travels to Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday September 13 for the Jimmy John’s Freaky Fast 300 Powered by Coca-Cola.

Your current top five in the Nationwide Series point standings are as follows:

1) Chase Elliott 916
2) Regan Smith -19
3) Ty Dillon-42
4) Elliott Sadler-54
5) Brian Scott-57

Complete Finishing Order:

Position	Car No.	Driver
1	84	Kyle Busch
2	9	Chase Elliott
3	5	Kevin Harvick
4	22	Ryan Blaney
5	2	Brian Scott
6	7	Regan Smith
7	43	Dakoda Armstrong
8	11	Elliott Sadler
9	3	Ty Dillon
10	60	Chris Buescher
11	31	Dylan Kwasniewski
12	20	Matt Kenseth
13	42	Kyle Larson
14	01	Landon Cassill
15	6	Trevor Bayne
16	16	Ryan Reed
17	33	Cale Conley
18	62	Brendan Gaughan
19	99	James Buescher
20	10	Mike Bliss
21	51	Jeremy Clements
22	29	Kelly Admiraal
23	39	Ryan Sieg
24	93	Ryan Ellis
25	44	Wil Kimmel III
26	40	Matt DiBenedetto
27	19	Hermie Sadler
28	52	Joey Gase
29	23	Cody Ware
30	14	Jeff Green
31	28	J.J. Yeley
32	4	Jeffrey Earnhardt
33	87	Josh Reaume
34	84	Chad Boat
35	72	John Jackson
36	89	Morgan Shepherd
37	55	Jamie Dick
38	91	Blake Koch
39	46	Matt Frahm
40	74	Kevin LePage

September 6, 2014

Keselowski Wins Sprint Cup Coors Light Pole Award at Richmond

September 5, 2014
Just In Time: Kahne Wins at Atlanta, Clinches Chase Berth

When you’re pushed into a corner and need to win a race (or completely out-perform your rivals), can you do it? That was the question for Kasey Kahne, as he was the only Hendrick Motorsports driver not in the chase. He answered with a thrilling victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday night.

“Yeah, we are locked in, and I hate that it comes down to this Atlanta or Richmond just about every year for me,” Kahne said after the race. “Sometimes we are in, sometimes we are out. But thankful that now at HMS (Hendrick Motorsports), I’ve been in all three years now. We have the pressure all the way to Richmond, but we made it again, thankful for that.”

Kahne entered the race 33 points behind Greg Biffle, and based on the way Biffle has been running all season, a couple of top three finishes could have done it for Kahne. But the driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS wanted to do it the right way, by winning.

The first 300 laps were admittedly uneventful and saw Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick lead 195 laps. It looked as if the No. 4 team would get their fourth win of the year and put Harvick’s name at the top of the Chase grid. But on a late restart with 24 laps to go, Kahne was able to not only get around the dominate Harvick, but pull away to almost a full second lead before a caution involving Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. resulted in the first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish.

During the pit stops, Matt Kenseth and Paul Menard took two tires and lined up in first and second for the restart. Harvick lined up fourth, and Kahne lined up fifth. Throughout the entire night, the outside lane just wouldn’t go on restarts, and it showed again in the first attempt at a green-white-checkered. Menard spun his tires and Harvick plowed into the back of him, causing a multi-car accident with Harvick taking most of the damage. He would finish the day in 19th.

This set things up for a second attempt at a green-white-checkered finish, this time with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth on the front row, and Kasey Kahne and Danica Patrick behind them. On the final restart, Hamlin tried his best to hold off Kahne into turn one but Kahne, on four fresh tires, sailed past the No. 11 of Hamlin. Off of turn two, Kahne nearly cleared Kenseth, but Kenseth hung on to Kahne’s rear quarter panel and was able to stay side-by-side into turn three.

But two tires just wouldn’t cut it at Atlanta, and Kenseth’s car wiggled off of turn four, allowing Kahne to clear him and go on to win the Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, clinching his spot in the chase. Kenseth also officially clinched a spot with his second place finish on points which means all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers, and all three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers will be part of the 16-driver Chase grid.

Denny Hamlin finished in third place followed by Jimmie Johnson in fourth and Carl Edwards in fifth. Danica Patrick was sixth, capturing the best finish of her Sprint Cup career. Ryan Newman, Kyle Larson, Aric Almirola and Greg Biffle round out the top 10 finishers at Atlanta.

Jeff Gordon remains the leader in the Sprint Cup standings with Dale Earnhardt Jr. 21 points behind in second place. Kenseth (-78), Joey Logano (-81) and Brad Keselowski (-90) are in third through fifth respectively.

Also of note, Tony Stewart made his return to racing at Atlanta since missing three events after being involved in a sprint car accident that took the life of Kevin Ward Jr. on August 9. Stewart started in 12th and ran as high as fourth in the early stages of the race.

Unfortunately, Stewart’s night came to an early end after a restart on lap 123 when Kyle Busch made contact with him, causing damage to both cars. Although Stewart’s team was able to make repairs, a blown tire on lap 172 resulted in more extensive damage and sent him to the garage. Stewart ended the night with a 41st place finish.

Next week the series travels to Richmond International Raceway for the final race of the regular season. With only two spots remaining on the Chase grid, it will be the last chance for drivers such as Kyle Larson, Clint Bower, Paul Menard and Tony Stewart to race their way in on points or to secure a spot by winning. No matter what happens, it’s sure to be a fun ride.

Go to nascar.com for the complete results. http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/standings/results/2014/oralb-usa-500.raceResults.results.html

August 31, 2014
Ryan Blaney Edges out Quiroga to Win Chevrolet Silverado 250 at CTMP

German Quiroga gave it all that he had, but it’d be Ryan Blaney edging him out at the line by 0.049 seconds to score the victory in the Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Sunday afternoon.

It marks the first victory of the 2014 season for Blaney and the third victory of his career. It also marks the second straight win for Brad Keselowski Racing after Brad Keselowski won at Bristol Motor Speedway last Wednesday.

“That was a lot of fun racing with German,” Blaney commented post-race. “We raced really hard and really clean, and that’s how racing should be. It was so much fun racing with him. I felt in the back of my mind that we were going to be close on fuel and I kept watching my fuel gauge the last seven laps or so and it would bounce to red every now and again but luckily I held on to it and Chad did a good job calculating fuel mileage. We didn’t qualify really good, but great call and strategy as it paid off in the end. That was a lot of fun. We had a good truck here last year but unfortunately broke and weren’t able to really run up there. This year to be able to win is really cool. We only get to run one road course a year and it was so much fun. It’s a fun course to run and a great win.”

The caution flew with 14 laps to go for Alex Tagliani spinning. Blaney would get a good restart, but Quiroga would stay close right on his tailgate. Blaney would make a mistake in turn one, allowing Quiroga to close the gap even further. As the pair raced around the 11-turn course, Quiroga was able to make his move in turn eight to attempt to make the pass. Blaney would then pull the crossover, before out drag racing Quiroga to the line.

Quiroga’s second place finish marks his ninth top-10 finish of the year as he continues to search for his first career victory. At one point, fans were predicting a repeat of the last lap contact with Ty Dillon and Chase Elliott last year.

“You never know what could happen,” Quiroga commented. “I like to race guys hard and clean. I really enjoyed that battle. I didn’t want to wreck him.”

Erik Jones would out-duel Gray Gaulding in the final laps as the pair traded third back and forth multiple times while Quebec native Andrew Ranger rounded out the top-five.

“It was a good battle,” Jones commented post-race. “We fell off there at the end. I don’t know if I burned my stuff up there trying to run down German, or the pressures were just too low and didn’t come back up. It was a tough battle to hold him off there at the end. To be able to hold him off at the end is great for a good finish, and helps get us turned around after a rough deal past couple of weeks in the owner’s standings.”

Matt Crafton finished sixth, followed by Brennan Newberry, Johnny Sauter, Cole Custer and Timothy Peters. Sauter now leads Crafton by seven points

Pole sitter Alex Tagliani would finish 16th after spinning Cole Custer out with 19 laps to go, before going for a spin by his lonesome and stalling the truck with 14 laps to go.

August 31, 2014

Kevin Harvick Dominates the Great Clips 300 With Decisive Win at Atlanta

Atlanta Motor Speedway is good to Kevin Harvick as he takes his third Nationwide Series win of the year in the Great Clips 300 to Benefit Feed the Children. He started the race in eighth place but quickly took over the lead from pole winner Chase Elliott on lap 37 and he was gone, leading an incredible 159 laps out of the 195 lap race.

He is now tied with Mark Martin for all-time Nationwide Series wins at Atlanta. Harvick gave JR Motorsports their eighth win of the year. There were only two minor cautions, both for debris but a light rain extended the second caution to a total of 13 laps. At the restart it was clear that Harvick was the man to beat.

“This thing was bad fast from the drop of the green flag,” Harvick said. “This is just one of those race tracks where I like the challenge of everything you get to do here. Ernie (crew chief Ernie Cope) and I have found a great setup over the years back into the trucks (NASCAR Camping World Truck Series), and it’s still working today.”

Joey Logano started fourth in his No. 22 and brought home second place, but by the time he got his car handling to where he could gain on Harvick, it was too late.

“I just ran out of time,” he said. “I wish there were five or seven more laps, and I could have got to him and tried to do something with him. We were catching him two or three tenths (of a second) a lap there at the end and having some fun with it, but it was too little, too late.”

Kyle Larson, driving the No. 42 Chevrolet started the race in second and finished in third place. Larson was running up in the high groove, but clearly the bottom was where you needed to be.

“Here at Atlanta for whatever reason; it’s a really wore out track but the bottom seems to be a little faster,” stated Larson. “I tried to learn to run the bottom but you have to have your left sides on the paint and it’s really narrow down there so it’s hard, but Kevin is really good at it for whatever reason.”

Kyle Busch brought his No. 54 car home in fourth place while the series points leader Chase Elliott came home in fifth place, retaining the points lead.

Regan Smith finished in sixth followed by Brian Scott in seventh place and David Ragan in eighth. Rounding out the top ten finishing order were Ty Dillon and Elliott Sadler, in ninth and 10th respectively.

Your top five in the points standings are as follows:

1) Chase Elliott 874 2) Regan Smith -15 3) Ty Dillon -35 4) Elliott Sadler -48 5) Brian Scott- 54

The Nationwide Series’ next race will be the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Speedway on September 5th.

Complete Finishing Order:

Position	Car No.	Driver
1	5	Kevin Harvick
2	22	Joey Logano
3	42	Kyle Larson
4	54	Kyle Busch
5	9	Chase Elliott
6	7	Regan Smith
7	2	Brian Scott
8	98	David Ragan
9	3	Ty Dillon
10	11	Elliott Sadler
11	20	Matt Kenseth
12	6	Trevor Bayne
13	60	Chris Buescher
14	62	Brendan Gaughan
15	01	Landon Cassill
16	28	JJ Yeley
17	19	Mike Bliss
18	16	Ryan Reed
19	99	James Buescher
20	39	Ryan Sieg
21	31	Dylan Kwasniewsk
22	51	Jeremy Clements
23	17	Tanner Berryhill
24	14	Eric McClure
25	4	Jeffrey Earnhardt
26	40	Matt DiBenedetto
27	55	Jamie Dick
28	44	Blake Koch
29	87	Chris Cockrum
30	52	Joey Gase
31	70	Derrike Cope
32	25	John Wes Townley
33	43	Dakoda Armstrong
34	74	Mike Harmon
35	89	Morgan Shepherd
36	82	Kevin Swindell
37	23	Carlos Contreras
38	72	John Jackson
39	46	Carl Long
40	10	Jeff Green

August 30, 2014

Alex Tagliani Wins Truck Series Pole at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

Alex Tagliani won the Keystone Light Pole Award and set a new track qualifying record at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with a lap of 80.558 seconds at 109.889 mph. As he leads the field to green in Sunday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 race, he will also be making his debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Tagliani competes in the Canadian Tire Series and has one previous start in the series at this track in 2008 where he finished in fifth place. He also competes in IndyCar.

After qualifying he talked about his preparation for qualifying and racing this weekend.

“We went out, the truck was fast from the get go,” he said. “We had just one little glitch we had to fix, we had some fuel pressure issues. Basically it took about 25 minutes to fix that and then we went and ran and made sure that everything was good. We parked it before the session was over, the guys were happy enough. We used the second practice getting ready for the race tomorrow.”

Tagliani also spoke about being part of the Brad Keselowski Racing team saying, “I feel really honored to be here and drive his truck.”

NASCAR Next driver Gray Gaulding will start beside him on the outside pole. Erik Jones will begin the race in the third position followed by German Quiroga Jr. and Cole Custer to round out the top five.

Several drivers had difficulties keeping their trucks on the track including third place finisher Jones who went off track during qualifying. Joey Coulter, who drove his No. 21 into the tire barriers, qualified in the 15th position. Ryan Blaney, who will start 14th, got sideways and Matt Crafton had similar issues but will begin the race in eighth place.

Series’ point leader Johnny Sauter will start the race from the 11^th position.

The Chevrolet Silverado 250 is scheduled for Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET, with television coverage on FOX Sports 1.

Complete Starting Lineup:

POS.	CAR	DRIVER
1	19	Alex Tagliani
2	20	Gray Gaulding
3	51	Erik Jones
4	77	German Quiroga Jr
5	0	Cole Custer
6	53	Andrew Ranger
7	54	Darrell Wallace Jr
8	88	Matt Crafton
9	17	Timothy Peters
10	32	Cameron Hayley
11	98	Johnny Sauter
12	31	Ben Kennedy
13	9	Brennan Newberry
14	29	Ryan Blaney
15	21	Joey Coulter
16	8	John Hunter Nemechek
17	13	Jeb Burton
18	99	Bryan Silas
19	2	Tyler Young
20	35	Mason Mingus
21	7	Ray Courtemanche Jr
22	50	T.J. Bell
23	63	Scott Stenzel
24	8	B J McLeod
25	36	Justin Jennings
26	6	Norm Benning
27	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb
28	0	Caleb Roark

August 30, 2014

Freaky Fast, Again: Kevin Harvick Scores Oral-B USA 500 Pole at Atlanta

On the back bumper of Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Jimmy Johns Chevrolet, it says ‘freaky fast’. Those words played true for the sixth time this year as Harvick scored his sixth pole of the season in qualifying for the Oral-B USA 500. Harvick would post a lap of 29.118 seconds for his 12th career pole, and his first at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“It’s good to have the boss back,” Harvick said, in referring to Tony Stewart’s return. “He told me to go with what I knew from practice and switched my line in one and two and was a lot better. Got to thank SHR for a good car today. Seems like things are back to normal with Tony back today so hopefully we can go out and get the W.”

Brad Keselowski will start alongside Harvick on the front row for his 20th top-10 start of the season as the pair are both looking for their fourth wins of the season.

“Just lacking a little bit,” Keselowski commented. “Really strong in race trim, thought we’d have a shot at qualifying. Another front row start – hopefully we can carry that into a front row finish, a first place finish, on Sunday night.”

Rookie Kyle Larson would qualify third for his eighth top-10 start of the season as he looks to either win, or gain 20 points on Greg Biffle, to get into the Chase for the Championship.

“I’d say our chances here are a little better than Richmond – more suits my driving style than Richmond,” Larson said. “Hoping to have a really good weekend here. Started off good so far in qualifying, third. Got to get a win or hope for bad luck for the 16 – but got to win.”

Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth would both round out the top-five, also looking for their first victories of the season.

“Just hanging on to it,” Newman commented. “The Caterpillar Chevrolet was on the bubble on the first run so just had to have the confidence to step it up. To come from 24th to fourth was a good pick-up for us.”

Martin Truex Jr. would qualify sixth, followed by Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne.

“Much better for our Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet,” Kahne said, comparing his car to how he was in practice. “The guys did a good job – was way off in practice in 36th and the guys made the right adjustments. We were real pleased with the progress there so hopefully tomorrow we’ll hit on some things and head in the right direction.”

Carl Edwards will start 11th, followed by Tony Stewart as Stewart makes his return to the track for the first time since the incident with Kevin Ward Jr. earlier this month. Rookie Austin Dillon will start 13th, with Joey Logano in 14th as this marks the first qualifying session outside of a restrictor plate event that Logano has missed the final round. Jamie McMurray qualified 15th, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Michael McDowell would be the only driver to fail to qualify.

Four drivers – Johnson, Earnhardt, Larson and Stewart – had issues getting through pre-qualifying session with relation to the rear camber of their cars.

August 29, 2014
Logano Nabs Third Win of the Season in Bristol Night Race

By Seth Livingstone via NASCAR Media

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Joey Logano believes he has the car and Team Penske believes they have the team to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

Logano took the lead from Matt Kenseth with 44 laps remaining and scooted to his third Sprint Cup victory of the season in Saturday’s IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“We can win the championship. We’ve showed it at every kind of race track. We’ve just got to keep doing it,” said Logano, 24, who held off his Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski in the final laps.

“What a year we’re having. I’m having so much fun. The past six or seven races have been unbelievable.”

Logano has finished no worse than sixth in any of the last five races but took special pride in winning at the track known as the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile.”

“It’s just the baddest mamma jamma race track ever built,” said Logano, who two years ago was struggling with a loss of confidence at Joe Gibbs Racing.

“At that point, I would never think I’d have a year like this,” he said. “That’s why the mental side of this is just as important as the physical side. But I’m happy I went through all that. It’s made me what I am now and made me aware of how I have to be, mentally, to win these things.”

It was a big weekend for both Penske and Ford Racing with Keselowski winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event in a truck he owns, Ryan Blaney winning for Penske in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race and Logano and Keselowski finishing 1-2 in the main event.

“I think we’re legitimate threats to win a championship this year and I’m proud of that,” said Keselowski, the 2012 Sprint Cup champion and the ‘old man’ of the group at 30. “To have all three drivers win races, I think that’s a testament to how bright the future is. I think the results speak for themselves. We’ve just got to keep rolling.”

It’s also the first time that Ford Racing has swept a NASCAR weekend series since 2006 when Mark Martin won in truck and Kenseth won both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races at Bristol. Ford’s nine Sprint Cup victories this season are its most since 2008 when it won 11 times.

Like Logano, Keselowski has three victories this season. The difference between the two drivers on Saturday was minimal.

“I think our two cars were really, really equal,” Keselowski said. “Whoever got out front and got the clean air first was going to win the race and Joey was able to do that.

“The last lap I just dive-bombed it in there on a prayer, kind of hoping it would stick or he would slip or something would happen for me. It made it look cool but it really wasn’t that close.”

Team Penske Executive Vice President Walt Czarnecki couldn’t be happier with the way things are working out with his team in its second year with Ford.

“When Joey came on board, we told him, ‘There’s no No. 1. There’s no No. 2. Everybody’s equal. We all contribute, we all have the came access to information, the same access to resources. I think it’s really been demonstrated in the performance of the team this year with six wins.”

Saturday, Logano had fresher tires than Kenseth, who elected not to pit under caution when he took the lead from Jamie McMurray during the race’s ninth caution which came out on Lap 433 of 500.

McMurray, who led a race-high 148 laps, said his car “got really tight” in the final 100 laps and settled for eighth place. “As the track rubbered up, it just didn’t suit our car as much as it did the other guys,” he said.

McMurray remains one of a handful of drivers who now need a victory at either Atlanta or Richmond to have any realistic chance of making the Chase.

Clint Bowyer (17th) and Greg Biffle (10th) remained on the positive side of the points bubble for non-winners. Kyle Larson (12th) trails Biffle by 26 points and Kasey Kahne is 33 points behind Biffle for the 16th and final Chase spot.

Kahne Led 40 laps but suffered recurring issues with his right front wheel and finished 35th on Saturday. Denny Hamlin, who ended up 40th, was as upset as Kahne was disappointed.

Hamlin was leading the race when Kevin Harvick sent him spinning on Lap 162. Dale Earnhardt Jr. side-swiped Hamlin on the way by, putting both Hamlin and Earnhardt (39th) behind the wall and ending promising runs for both.

“It was a misjudgment. He knows better. He made a mistake,” said Hamlin, who fired a piece of his HANS device off the rear end of Harvick’s car as the new leader circled the track. “He thinks he knows everything. I just wish I had some kind of car left to show him the favor back.”

Harvick led the first 37 laps from the pole but finished 11th. Jeff Gordon, shooting for a third consecutive victory, finished 16th while his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson overcame a pair of early-race speeding penalties to finish fourth.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race – IRWIN Tools Night Race
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, Tennessee
Saturday, August 23, 2014

1. (5) Joey Logano, Ford, 500, $357931.
2. (9) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 500, $241438.
3. (16) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 500, $227116.
4. (6) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 500, $198916.
5. (7) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 500, $136605.
6. (21) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 500, $161120.
7. (3) Carl Edwards, Ford, 500, $135995.
8. (18) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 500, $161609.
9. (17) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 500, $142484.
10. (8) Greg Biffle, Ford, 500, $155070.
11. (1) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 500, $154368.
12. (40) Kyle Larson #, Chevrolet, 500, $139880.
13. (11) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 500, $119285.
14. (22) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 500, $128643.
15. (25) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 499, $145693.
16. (2) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 499, $152346.
17. (14) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 498, $143351.
18. (28) Michael McDowell, Ford, 498, $103785.
19. (19) Justin Allgaier #, Chevrolet, 497, $131218.
20. (23) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 497, $134318.
21. (15) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 497, $138935.
22. (39) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 497, $105010.
23. (29) David Ragan, Ford, 496, $126493.
24. (36) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 496, $115318.
25. (32) David Gilliland, Ford, 495, $121182.
26. (43) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 495, $110010.
27. (24) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 493, $109390.
28. (26) Austin Dillon #, Chevrolet, 493, $146616.
29. (30) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 492, $100770.
30. (34) Cole Whitt #, Toyota, 492, $101635.
31. (41) David Stremme, Chevrolet, 491, $97525.
32. (27) Alex Bowman #, Toyota, 489, $97415.
33. (37) JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 489, $97305.
34. (10) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 480, $123490.
35. (12) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 477, $116410.
36. (4) Kyle Busch, Toyota, Accident, 442, $144866.
37. (33) Ryan Truex #, Toyota, Engine, 338, $96784.
38. (38) Michael Annett #, Chevrolet, Accident, 243, $91165.
39. (20) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 176, $95165.
40. (13) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Accident, 160, $96565.
41. (42) Aric Almirola, Ford, Accident, 123, $116101.
42. (31) Brett Moffitt, Toyota, Engine, 78, $83165.
43. (35) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, Overheating, 37, $71665.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 92.965 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 52 Mins, 00 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.390 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 9 for 64 laps.
Lead Changes: 16 among 9 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K. Harvick 1-37; J. Gordon 38-54; Kyle Busch 55-62; K. Harvick 63; M. Kenseth 64-103; J. Logano 104-132; D. Hamlin 133-160; K. Harvick 161-197; K. Kahne 198-237; J. McMurray 238-265; B. Keselowski 266-311; J. McMurray 312-360; J. Logano 361; J. McMurray 362-432; J. Logano 433; M. Kenseth 434-455; J. Logano 456-500.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): J. McMurray 3 times for 148 laps; J. Logano 4 times for 76 laps; K. Harvick 3 times for 75 laps; M. Kenseth 2 times for 62 laps; B. Keselowski 1 time for 46 laps; K. Kahne 1 time for 40 laps; D. Hamlin 1 time for 28 laps; J. Gordon 1 time for 17 laps; Kyle Busch 1 time for 8 laps.
Top 16 in Points: J. Gordon – 845; D. Earnhardt Jr. – 818; B. Keselowski – 776; J. Logano – 761; M. Kenseth – 751; J. Johnson – 726; K. Harvick – 721; C. Edwards – 716; R. Newman – 710; C. Bowyer – 699; G. Biffle – 694; K. Larson # – 668; K. Kahne – 661; A. Dillon # – 654; P. Menard – 649; J. Mcmurray – 634.

August 23, 2014