Brad Keselowski Tag

FORT WORTH, Texas—Teenager Erik Jones turned his first NASCAR XFINITY Series pole  at Texas Motor Speedway into his first series victory Friday night, schooling NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stars Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. en route to the checkered flag in the 19th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts 300. Jones, 18, held off Keselowski on a restart on Lap 175 of the scheduled 200 around TMS’ high-banked, 1.5-mile quad-oval for a margin of victory of 1.624-seconds in the first night race of the season. Jones’ first series win came inRead More

MARTINSVILLE, Va.—With Brad Keselowski beating a tattoo into his rear bumper, and with his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota sliding sideways as it approached the checkered flag, Denny Hamlin held on to his car and held off Keselowski to win Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. In winning his first race of the season, his fifth at the .526-mile short track and the 25th of his career, Hamlin took the lead for good on Lap 473 of 500, passing teammate Matt Kenseth for the topRead More

FONTANA, Calif.—After Sunday’s Auto Club 400, there may be a warrant issued for Brad Keselowski. After all, the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford committed his own version of “Grand Theft Auto” at Auto Club Speedway—he stole an entire race. Benefitting from a four-tire call on the last lap of regulation and two opportune cautions that extended the event nine laps beyond its scheduled distance, Keselowski passed polesitter Kurt Busch on the final lap (209) and pulled away to win his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race ofRead More

AVONDALE, Ariz.—Yes, the best car won Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500 at Phoenix International Raceway — but one-man juggernaut Kevin Harvick had to hold off charging Jamie McMurray on the final restart with 12 laps left to notch his fourth straight victory at the one-mile track. The box score will show that the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champ led 224 of 312 laps, but McMurray took his best shot on the Lap 301 restart, driving hard to the inside of the race winner and, for the briefest of moments, clearing Harvick’sRead More

AVONDALE, Ariz.—The most surprising thing about Kevin Harvick’s pole at Phoenix International Raceway was that it was his first one. Riding a tidal wave that carried him to his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title last year and continued with two runner-up finishes and a victory in the first three races of the current season, Harvick toured the one-mile track in the Sonoran Desert in 25.577 seconds (140.751 mph) during the final round of Friday’s knockout qualifying to win his first Coors Light Pole Award of the season and theRead More

HAMPTON, Ga.—Coors Light Polesitter Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick dominated the early and middle stages of Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway—before Jimmie Johnson decided to crash the party. Johnson didn’t take the lead in the second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the season until Lap 198 of 325, but from then on, his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the class of the field, leading six times for 92 laps in winning for the fourth time at Atlanta and for the 71st time inRead More

HAMPTON, Ga.—There’s no letup in Matt Crafton. The two-time defending NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion, Crafton charged to the front from his 15th-place starting position and ran away from the rest of the field in Saturday’s Hyundai Construction Equipment 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. At the end of a 74-lap green flag run—the longest in NCWTS history at Atlanta—Crafton crossed the finish line 8.752 seconds ahead of runner-up Ty Dillon. Keystone Light Polesitter Ben Kennedy came home third, a distant 10.275 seconds behind the race winner. Daniel Suarez finishedRead More

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—The record will reflect that Joey Logano won Sunday’s 57th Daytona 500 under caution, when a multicar wreck on the backstretch forced NASCAR to wave the yellow flag as Logano led the field into the final corner on the second lap of a green-white-checkered-flag finish. But the notation of that final caution does no justice to the memory of a race that produced some of the most scintillating restrictor-plate racing in the history of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. From a restart on Lap 182 of a scheduledRead More

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—With a spectacular last-lap move to the inside, not to mention a timely shove from Roush Fenway Raceway teammate Chris Buescher, Ryan Reed stormed to his first NASCAR XFINITY Series victory in Saturday’s Alert Today Florida 300 at Daytona International Speedway. “Oh, my God, we won Daytona!” exulted Reed, who has overcome a diagnosis of Type I diabetes to drive full-time in the XFINITY Series. Buescher finished second, .089 seconds behind, with Ty Dillon, Austin Dillon and Brad Keselowski claiming positions three through five. Keselowski was leading atRead More

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Hendrick Motorsports swept the front-row starting positions for Sunday’s Daytona 500. Apparently enjoying the feeling, HMS then swept Thursday’s Budweiser Duel at Daytona twin 150-mile qualifying races. Dale Earnhardt Jr. came from his last-place starting position to win Thursday night’s first Budweiser Duel at Daytona 150-mile qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway, as unsung heroes behind him diced their way into the 57th running of the Great American Race (1 p.m. ET on FOX). Jimmie Johnson, on the pole for the second Duel and already locked into theRead More