Speed and strength were the deciding factors in Brad Keselowski’s second victory of the season Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway. His car was fast enough to run down the leader on every restart. Once he had the lead, he rarely surrendered it as he led a total of 199 laps.
When faced with the biggest challenge of the race during the run to the finish, he made his way from sixth to first in 27 laps. He then had to hold on for 20 more circuits which didn’t faze the former champion.
The first 100 laps of the Quaker State 400 were rather rough as tire issues plagued both Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson. Each had separate tire failures that sent them both into the wall and out of the race. Hamlin’s came on lap 29 and Larson’s struck on lap 77.
Had the race featured short green-flag runs and not long and spread out ones, Joey Logano would have been the one to beat. On just about every restart, he was the one pacing the field and getting a jump on teammate Keselowski. Once the run extended past ten or so laps, the No. 2 car stormed to the front and held on until the next break in the action.
Kentucky always seems to have at least one wreck involving two or more cars. This year’s occurred on lap 153 as Alex Bowman spun off turn two and produced lots of tire smoke. When drivers including Jamie McMurray, Aric Almirola, and Kasey Kahne attempted to maneuver through the smoke, they all made contact. McMurray’s car suffered the most damage and went to the garage along with Almirola. Kahne’s car only had a few dents.
The same story as before played out on the next two restarts. Logano’s pit crew got the No. 22 car off pit road the quickest. He then led only a few laps before being passed by Keselowski.
However, the sixth and last yellow-flag of the day shook things up. It came as Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. made green-flag pit stops. Under caution, they would be able to stay on track while others pitted. Moving them up to the top-three spots.
Logano and Keselowski restarted fifth and sixth. What happened next came as no surprise. Keselowski motored back to the front and the lead. He would hang on for the finish and claim his second career Sprint Cup Series victory at Kentucky. His first came in 2012 which was the same year that we won the championship.
During the victory celebration, a freak-accident occurred as Keselowski cut his hand on a champagne bottle and required stitches and a blood-free fire-suit. After cleaning up, Keselowski continued his victory celebration as planned.
Next week marks the halfway point of the 2014 season as NASCAR heads back to Daytona International Speedway. Sparks will fly under the lights as one of the most exciting events on the schedule takes place. The event will also give many drivers the chance to earn their one victory that may land them a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Results via ESPN.com
| POS | DRIVER | CAR | MANUFACTURER | LAPS | MONEY | START | LED | PTS | BONUS | PENALTY |
| 1 | Brad Keselowski |  |
Ford | 267 | 1 | 199 | 48 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2 | Kyle Busch |  |
Toyota | 267 | 18 | 31 | 43 | 1 | 0 | |
| 3 | Ryan Newman |  |
Chevrolet | 267 | 7 | 0 | 41 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | Matt Kenseth |  |
Toyota | 267 | 14 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. |  |
Chevrolet | 267 | 29 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | Jeff Gordon |  |
Chevrolet | 267 | 3 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | Kevin Harvick |  |
Chevrolet | 267 | 5 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | Kasey Kahne |  |
Chevrolet | 267 | 20 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | Joey Logano |  |
Ford | 267 | 2 | 37 | 36 | 1 | 0 | |
| 10 | Jimmie Johnson |  |
Chevrolet | 267 | 25 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | Tony Stewart |  |
Chevrolet | 267 | 13 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | Kurt Busch |  |
Chevrolet | 267 | 9 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | Marcos Ambrose |  |
Ford | 267 | 27 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Greg Biffle |  |
Ford | 267 | 24 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | |
| 15 | Paul Menard |  |
Chevrolet | 267 | 12 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 0 | |
| 16 | Austin Dillon |  |
Chevrolet | 267 | 16 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 0 | |
| 17 | Carl Edwards |  |
Ford | 267 | 23 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 0 | |
| 18 | Michael Annett |  |
Chevrolet | 267 | 32 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 0 | |
| 19 | Martin Truex Jr. |  |
Chevrolet | 267 | 19 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | |
| 20 | Casey Mears |  |
Chevrolet | 267 | 26 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | |
| 21 | Danica Patrick |  |
Chevrolet | 267 | 10 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | |
| 22 | AJ Allmendinger |  |
Chevrolet | 266 | 15 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 0 | |
| 23 | Clint Bowyer |  |
Toyota | 266 | 11 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | |
| 24 | Justin Allgaier |  |
Chevrolet | 266 | 28 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | |
| 25 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |  |
Ford | 266 | 21 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | |
| 26 | Brian Vickers |  |
Toyota | 266 | 17 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | |
| 27 | Reed Sorenson |  |
Chevrolet | 265 | 31 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | |
| 28 | Cole Whitt |  |
Toyota | 264 | 30 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | |
| 29 | Josh Wise |  |
Chevrolet | 263 | 34 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | |
| 30 | David Gilliland |  |
Ford | 263 | 41 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | |
| 31 | David Ragan |  |
Ford | 262 | 36 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | |
| 32 | Landon Cassill |  |
Chevrolet | 262 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 33 | Ryan Truex |  |
Toyota | 261 | 39 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | |
| 34 | Travis Kvapil |  |
Ford | 259 | 35 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | |
| 35 | David Stremme |  |
Chevrolet | 257 | 38 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| 36 | Alex Bowman |  |
Toyota | 255 | 33 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | |
| 37 | Jamie McMurray |  |
Chevrolet | 250 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |
| 38 | Joe Nemechek |  |
Toyota | 239 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 39 | Aric Almirola |  |
Ford | 175 | 22 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| 40 | Kyle Larson |  |
Chevrolet | 75 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| 41 | Mike Bliss |  |
Toyota | 30 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 42 | Denny Hamlin |  |
Toyota | 27 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |