Keselowski wins Chase Race #1, locks himself into next round
Brad Keselowski carried his momentum from the regular season into the Chase, winning the Sprint Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.
Though Sunday's performance wasn't as dominant as his win last weekend in Richmond, Keselowski blew past Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick on the final restart to take the checkered flag.
“What a crazy day,” Keselowski said in victory lane. “I’m not sure what really happened (on the final restart), but I’m glad to be here.”
Because of the new Chase format, Keselowski has automatically locked himself into the second round of the playoffs, and doesn't need to take any risks during the next two races.
Keselowski started the race in 25th after a poor showing at first practice. Since qualifying was rained out (where Team Penske excels), he had to start towards the back of the field and work his way up to the leaders.
“When you start from the back, nobody expects you to be out front,” he said. “But these Fords have come together for a strong Chase run.”
Out of the 16 Chase drivers, Aric Almirola, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle and AJ Allmendinger are the four in danger of being eliminated based on points.
Here’s your UNOFFICIAL finishing order:
| Pos. | No. | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Brad Keselowski |
| 2 | 24 | Jeff Gordon |
| 3 | 42 | Kyle Larson # |
| 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick |
| 5 | 22 | Joey Logano |
| 6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin |
| 7 | 18 | Kyle Busch |
| 8 | 1 | Jamie McMurray |
| 9 | 41 | Kurt Busch |
| 10 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson |
| 11 | 20 | Matt Kenseth |
| 12 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
| 13 | 5 | Kasey Kahne |
| 14 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. |
| 15 | 31 | Ryan Newman |
| 16 | 3 | Austin Dillon # |
| 17 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
| 18 | 14 | Tony Stewart |
| 19 | 10 | Danica Patrick |
| 20 | 99 | Carl Edwards |
| 21 | 27 | Paul Menard |
| 22 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger |
| 23 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose |
| 24 | 16 | Greg Biffle |
| 25 | 55 | Brian Vickers |
| 26 | 13 | Casey Mears |
| 27 | 51 | Justin Allgaier # |
| 28 | 40 | Landon Cassill(i) |
| 29 | 36 | Reed Sorenson |
| 30 | 26 | Cole Whitt # |
| 31 | 34 | David Ragan |
| 32 | 95 | Michael McDowell |
| 33 | 98 | Josh Wise |
| 34 | 38 | David Gilliland |
| 35 | 23 | Alex Bowman # |
| 36 | 66 | Joe Nemechek(i) |
| 37 | 32 | Joey Gase(i) |
| 38 | 33 | Travis Kvapil |
| 39 | 15 | Clint Bowyer |
| 40 | 7 | Michael Annett # |
| 41 | 43 | Aric Almirola |
| 42 | 83 | Ryan Truex # |
| 43 | 37 | Mike Bliss(i) |