Brad Keselowski, driver of the #22 SKF / Discount Tire Ford, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond International Raceway on April 26, 2013
Photo – Patrick Smith/Getty Images

All night long it was Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Busch battling up-front. The drivers exchanged the lead multiple times over the course of the race. When it was all said and done, Keselowski emerged victorious. All three drivers held the lead at some point with less than 35 laps to go, but the last pass for the lead Keselowski made with ten laps to go led him to victory. It wasn’t a dominant performance by Keselowski, but it was good enough to get him to victory lane.

Keselowski started the race on the pole, but soon found himself in a three-wide battle for the lead with his teammate, Sam Hornish Jr., and Kyle Busch. Somehow, Hornish Jr. emerged to take-over the top spot and stayed out front for a good part of the first 100 laps.

The first caution of the race came out on lap 24 for Dexter Stacey who dropped liquid on the track, spun in it and backed into the outside wall. His wreck caused a huge mess of oil in turn one which led to a short red-flag period. Once the track was clear and clean, the race resumed and Hornish Jr. remained in the lead.

Lap 88 was when Kevin Harvick led for the first time of the night after passing Hornish Jr. Just one lap after that pass, Elliot Sadler was able to get around Harvick. Sadler held the lead until Harvick was able to get it back on lap 107. After a caution on lap 152, Keselowski made it to the front of the field once again, but couldn’t hold off Harvick who regained the lead with 81 laps remaining.

A wave of cautions occurred with around 40 laps to go and one major pile-up left two championship contenders with torn-up cars. While Justin Allgaier and Austin Dillon were battling each other for position, Dillon slid up the track in turn three and into Allgaier. When Dillon slid up the track, he was hit by Brian Scott who assisted Dillon into the outside wall. Dillon made hard contact with the wall, as did Justin Allgaier. Both Dillon and Allgaier were running in the top-ten and their chances of having a decent finish went up in smoke with this incident.

Once the race stayed green for more than a few laps, a great battle for the lead came into play. Kyle Busch led for the first time of the night with 25 laps remaining. Busch’s car wasn’t as strong as Keselowski’s and that led to another pass for the lead with ten laps left to race. After the eighth and final caution of the race, Keselowski made the final pass for the lead and pulled away in the final ten laps. At the end, it was Keselowski crossing the line first, for his first Nationwide Series victory of the season.

While Keselowski celebrated in victory lane, a brawl broke out on pit road between Brian Scott and Nelson Piquet Jr. Scott, unhappy with the way Piquet Jr. raced him, showed Piquet Jr. his displeasure by bumping him on the cool-down lap. Once the drivers climbed out of their cars, Scott approached Piquet Jr. who wasn’t interested in talking. Piquet Jr. then went on to push Scott away and kick him below the belt. These two drivers have had issues in the past and this race just lit the fire again.

As much as Keselowski would like to celebrate this victory, he has to focus on tomorrow’s race. A consistent Keselowski has been prominent in the Sprint Cup Series this season and a win could show how much strength he actually has this season. A weekend sweep would be nice for Keselowski and tomorrow night, that is exactly his focus. Watch out for this hungry driver tomorrow night at Richmond.

Results via ESPN.com