Keselowski inches closer to Chase with Bristol win
Brad Keselowski’s phoenix-like rise from the ashes continued Saturday, with an improbable victory in the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway — his third win of the season and his second since breaking his left ankle Aug. 3 in a crash during testing at Road Atlanta.
Keselowski grabbed the lead on a restart with 80 laps left in the 500-lap Sprint Cup race and held on to win for the fourth time in his career. The victory all but assured Keselowski of at least a wild-card position in the upcoming Chase.
Keselowski inches closer to Chase with Bristol win
Busch beats Johnson in G-W-C at Michigan
Michigan finally unrolled the welcome mat for Kyle Busch, the first official member of the 2011 Chase.
Busch got his first Sprint Cup Series victory at Michigan International Speedway in his 14th start at the two-mile track, holding off Jimmie Johnson in a green-white-checkered finish to win Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400.
Busch beat Johnson to the finish line by .568 seconds to claim his series-best fourth victory of the season and the 23rd of his career. Busch kept Johnson winless at Michigan, one of five active tracks on the Cup circuit where the five-time champion hasn’t been to Victory Lane.
Busch beats Johnson in G-W-C at Michigan
Ambrose avoids violent wrecks for first Cup victory
Marcos Ambrose passed Brad Keselowski on the first lap of a green-white-checkered finish at Watkins Glen and won Monday’s rain-delayed Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen under caution when a violent multi-car wreck exploded behind him on the final circuit.
Ambrose, who charged through the bus stop (inner loop) and powered past Keselowski to the inside, became the fifth first-time winner in the Sprint Cup Series this year.
Ambrose avoids violent wrecks for first Cup victory
Keselowski guts out big victory at Pocono
Brad Keselowski’s challenge to the rest of the Sprint Cup field: “I can beat you with a broken leg.” And he did.
Staying out on the track on old tires under a caution with 21 laps left in Sunday’s rain-interrupted Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Pocono Raceway, Keselowski pulled away from Kyle Busch after a restart on Lap 185 of 200 to secure his second victory of the season — despite driving with a broken left ankle.
Keselowski guts out big victory at Pocono
Menard stretches fuel to win Brickyard 400
Years ago, as a garage rat at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Paul Menard dreamed of winning a race at the vaunted Brickyard. On Sunday, the dream came true. In a season full of improbable first-time winners in NASCAR’s foremost races, Menard, 30, stretched his fuel mileage and held off a charging Jeff Gordon to win Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at the 2.5-mile track.
The victory was Menard’s first as a Sprint Cup driver, and it catapulted him into the conversation for a wild-card berth in the Chase. Gordon, who closed rapidly in the final five laps, crossed the finish line .725 seconds behind the season’s fourth first-time winner.