Once the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion got past Joey Logano and into clean air,, the drought would finally come to an end.
Keselowski got past Kyle Busch with just six laps remaining and held on to win the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, a day that had a little bit of everything in the weather department – from rain to gusty winds to a sandstorm.
Not only was it the first win for the Penske Racing driver since last year at Auto Club Speedway, but it was his second in the last three years at LVMS that locked him into the 2016 Chase.
“We’re thrilled to be locked into the Chase this early in the season,” Keselowski said. “It’s a tremendous feeling for our team, and I wouldn’t trade my guys on pit road. They were a large part of our success this week.”
Things looked bleak for Keselowski as Kyle Busch, who had won the previous day’s XFINITY Series Boyd Gaming 300 in dominating fashion, looked to be heading for a weekend sweep when he took the lead from Logano with 44 laps to go.
But when the race’s sixth and final caution came out at lap 226, Busch took only left-side tires on his pit stop. Keselowski took four and once he got past his teammate into second place, the race to the finish was on.
With Busch struggling with a vibration on the right front tire of his No. 18 M&Ms Toyota Camry, it wouldn’t take long for Keselowski to take control.
“I knew when I was watching, as soon as I passed Joey, I focused on the 18,” said Keselowski, who had a momentary setback when he received a pit-road speeding penalty at lap 180.. “When I saw his car, the way it was sliding and the line he was running, I knew after that first lap we could win the race.”
Paul Wolfe, Keselowski’s crew chief, added, “At that point, listening to Kyle, he pretty much used up everything he had. I can't say it was probably much of a fight getting by him.”
For Keselowski, the second race with the new low-downforce package was even better than the first – a ninth-place effort at Atlanta.
“I think you saw, because of the new rules package, the cars fell off a lot at the end of a run and you really had to drive them sideways,” Keselowski said. “Took a lot of balance as a driver, a lot of precise footwork and accuracy with where you put your car and how you place it.
“This shouldn’t be easy. This is the Sprint Cup Series. These cars should be very hard to drive. At the end of the run, they were a challenge. It’s nice to be a part of that.”
Logano was not only second in the race, but second to Jimmie Johnson in laps led with 70. Like his teammate, Logano gave the new package rave reviews.
“I’ve never seen the leader really check out and go away,” Logano said. “It was pretty cool to be able to see some more racing.”
Johnson, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon rounded out the top five finishers. Ryan Blaney was the highest-finishing rookie in sixth. The start of the race was delayed for about 25 minutes due to rain, and a sandstorm forced a shorter delay in the later stages.
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NEXT WEEK'S RACES
Phoenix International Raceway (1-mile oval), Avondale, Arizona.
-SPRINT CUP: Good Sam 500, Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT, Fox (check listings). Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.
Race distance: 500 kilometers (312 miles), 312 laps.
2015 champion: Kevin Harvick.
-XFINITY SERIES: Axalta Faster, Tougher, Brighter 200, Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT, Fox (check listings). Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.
Race distance: 200 miles, 200 laps.
2015 champion: Joey Logano
-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Off until April 2 at Martinsville Speedway.
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