Reigning champion Brad Keselowski finally scored his first win of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup season in a Charlotte Motor Speedway race transformed by a late caution.
Jimmie Johnson had been on course for a dominant win in what had turned into a processional event until a debris yellow with 27 of 334 laps remaining. The five-time champion’s Hendrick teammates Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon, both of whom had led stints earlier in, only took two tires at the subsequent pit stops and jumped to the front.
Johnson restarted third, but a big slide as he attacked at the restart dropped him to seventh. That allowed Johnson’s title rival Matt Kenseth and Keselowski to move into victory contention after making gradual progress up the order through the night following poor early stints.
“It was just a never-give-up night,” Keselowski said. “We had a lot of struggles tonight. We didn’t qualify well (23rd), but we kept working our way forward. I knew we had a good car. I’m not sure we were as good as the 48 (Johnson) or the 5 (Kahne).
“I never got to really race them until the end and (Kahne) had two tires, so I think we were probably pretty even. When (crew chief) Paul (Wolfe) made the call to take four tires, and I saw we were that close to the front, I knew we could get them.”
As Gordon swiftly fell back, Keselowski passed Kenseth and began to attack Kahne. At first the Hendrick driver was able to sweep back in front using a wider line every time Keselowski’s Penske Ford got alongside. The battle was finally resolved with eight laps to go, and Keselowski was able to pull clearly ahead and go on to win by a second.
“I was on two (tires) and he was on four, and he could just move around a little bit better,” Kahne said. “I was trying to move around, but I was just a little bit on the tight side with the front end, then I would get loose if I got the front working.
“I was doing all I could and felt pretty good, but he made some nice moves and just really had some speed there late in the race and was able to get by me.”
Kahne held off Kenseth and Johnson for second, meaning Kenseth keeps a four-point championship lead.
Kyle Busch was fifth, followed by front-row starter Kevin Harvick and Gordon.
Results - 334 laps:Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Brad Keselowski Penske Ford 3h09m53.000s 2. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet +1.023s 3. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota +1.074s 4. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet +1.409s 5. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota +3.069s 6. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet +5.589s 7. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet +6.427s 8. Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +7.631s 9. Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Toyota +7.871s10. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford +12.637s11. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota +19.411s12. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet +26.291s13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford +30.284s14. Kurt Busch Furniture Row Chevrolet +1 lap15. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet +1 lap16. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford +1 lap17. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford +1 lap18. Joey Logano Penske Ford +2 laps19. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet +2 laps20. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +2 laps21. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet +2 laps22. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota +3 laps23. Aric Almirola Petty Ford +3 laps24. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet +3 laps25. Brian Vickers Waltrip Toyota +4 laps26. David Reutimann BK Toyota +4 laps27. Brian Scott Childress Chevrolet +4 laps28. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota +5 laps29. David Gilliland Front Row Ford +6 laps30. David Ragan Front Row Ford +6 laps31. Casey Mears Germain Ford +6 laps32. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet +7 laps33. Landon Cassill Circle Sport Chevrolet +7 laps34. Cole Whitt Swan Toyota +7 laps35. Travis Kvapil BK Toyota +8 laps36. Timmy Hill FAS Lane Ford +10 lapsRetirements: Kyle Larson Phoenix Chevrolet 247 laps Blake Koch Leavine Ford 216 laps Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 149 laps Michael McDowell Parsons Ford 83 laps Josh Wise Front Row Ford 81 laps Mark Martin Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 80 laps JJ Yeley Baldwin Chevrolet 23 laps
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