RICHMOND, Va. - Brad Keselowski ducked underneath Kyle Busch to take the lead with 10 laps to go Friday night and won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Richmond International Raceway.
Keselowski had to hold off a final charge from Kevin Harvick, but after Harvick closed within a few car lengths, Keselowski kept him at bay and slightly expanded his margin in the final laps to win the three-way duel among some of NASCAR’s most aggressive and daring drivers.
“You’re racing the best and you know if you make a mistake, they’re going to beat you,” Keselowski said.
The victory was the 21st of Keselowski’s career in the series and second on the 0.75-mile oval.
“We had a fast car at the end,” Keselowski said. “It was just a matter of putting it in the right position.”
Harvick, who led four times for a race-high 96 laps, was followed across the finish line by Busch, whose streak of three consecutive victories in the series came to an end.Brian Vickers was fourth, followed by Regan Smith.
“All in all, it was a fun night,” Harvick said. “He just had a better car for the short runs.”
The duel with Busch and Keselowski seemed as enjoyable to be part of as it was to watch.
“On any night it’s fun when you can race like that,” Harvick said.
Busch agreed.
“It was good. Certainly there were some tense moments there,” he said. “You’re fighting for everything you can get.”
The race finished with a skirmish on pit road between the teams of season-long rivals Brian Scott and Nelson Piquet Jr., with Scott saying his team was upset because Piquet ran him into the wall while fighting for 15th place late in the race.
“When I went to talk to him, he just pushed and shoved me and then kicked me below the belt,” Scott said. “It’s just a chicken move.”
Sam Hornish Jr., the points leader and pole sitter, was dominant early.
He led 83 laps, but his car faded at the end of a long green-flag run and he never contended again.
He wound up seventh, but retained the points lead by one over Smith.
Ryan Reed, making his series debut, raced in the top 10 for part of the race and faded late, finishing 16th.
NASCAR Nationwide TOYOTACARE 250 At Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, Va.
Lap length: .75 miles (Start position in parentheses)
(1) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 250, 130.6, 0, $47,990.
(4) Kevin Harvick, Chevy, 250, 140.1, 0, $34,250.
(2) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 250, 118.1, 0, $23,525.
(9) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 250, 100.6, 40, $27,050.
(16) Regan Smith, Chevy, 250, 104.8, 39, $25,475.
(14) Elliott Sadler, Toyota, 250, 114.6, 39, $23,625.
(3) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 250, 112.6, 38, $22,385.
(18) Kyle Larson, Chevy, 250, 90, 36, $25,295.
(17) Travis Pastrana, Ford, 250, 72.9, 35, $21,775.
(10) Reed Sorenson, Ford, 250, 100.6, 34, $22,750.
(30) P. Kligerman, Toyota, 250, 67.4, 33, $21,325.
(7) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 250, 93, 32, $21,225.
(20) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 250, 79.8, 31, $21,125.
(23) Nelson Piquet, Chevy, 250, 73, 30, $21,075.
(13) Johanna Long, Chevy, 250, 77.4, 29, $21,950.
(15) Ryan Reed, Ford, 250, 80.2, 28, $15,150.
(22) J. Earnhardt, Chevy, 250, 72.1, 27, $20,725.
(21) Kevin Swindell, Ford, 250, 65.7, 26, $14,625.
(19) Landon Cassill, Chevy, 250, 67.2, 0, $20,550.
(8) Brian Scott, Chevy, 250, 83, 24, $21,175.
(27) Scott Lagasse, Chevy, 250, 62.6, 23, $14,450.
(26) Michael McDowell, Toyota, 249, 54.4, 0, $20,375.
(25) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 248, 54.6, 21, $20,300.
(28) Hal Martin, Toyota, 248, 45.3, 20, $20,250.
(31) Blake Koch, Toyota, 247, 46.4, 19, $20,650.
(37) Eric McClure, Toyota, 247, 40.8, 18, $20,125.
(12) Alex Bowman, Toyota, 246, 64.4, 17, $20,075.
(40) T. Berryhill, Chevy, 246, 39.2, 16, $14,000.
(39) Juan C. Blum, Chevy, 245, 34.2, 15, $19,950.
(33) Joey Gase, Ford, 244, 36.9, 14, $20,200.
(11) J. Allgaier, Chevy, 244, 84.5, 13, $19,830.
(38) R. Richardson, Chevy, 239, 29.7, 12, $19,785.
(36) M.Wallace, Chevy, engine, 233, 39.9, 11, $19,740.
(35) Josh Wise, Chevy, 222, 47.9, 10, $19,620.
(6) A. Dillon, Chevy, accident, 210, 72.4, 9, $19,537.
(5) K. Wallace, Toyota, rear gear, 142, 60.2, 8, $12,650.
(32) J. Clements, Chevy, engine, 36, 40.3, 7, $18,590.
(34) D. Stacey, Ford, accident, 22, 33.6, 6, $18,536.
(29) J.J. Yeley, Chevy, electrical, 7, 30.6, 0, $12,420.
(24) J. Green, Toyota, vibration, 4, 27.6, 4, $12,380.
Sports, Pages 26 on 04/27/2013