Keselowski adds another win to his Chase efforts

Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR
Night racing at Bristol, many consider it the best racing in NASCAR. Tonight's race started off with a beautiful moment as the children of Motor Racing Outreach, which is comprised of the children of drivers and crew members, sang our National Anthem. It was a beautiful way to kick off the festivities of the evening, which usually conclude with fireworks, on and off the track.

After the injuries sustained at Road Atlanta, many may have counted out Brad Keselowski, but apparently that is what Keselowski needed to spur his season on. Since his accident, he has accumulated a win at Pocono, 2nd at Watkins Glen, 3rd at Michigan and another win tonight. Battered, bruised but definitely not out of contention for the Chase. After collecting his third win of the season, Keselowski is now only -141 points behind the leader in 11th place in the standings.

Bristol also saw Chase scenarios play out for many of the top contenders as several drivers locked into the Chase. Joining Kyle Busch (who locked in last week) are Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards.

Bristol was the final race in which drivers were able to grab a win to be eligible for the Sprint Summer Showdown presented by HTC EVO 3D. Next week at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Keselowski, Paul Menard, Marcos Ambrose and Kyle Busch will all be competing for a total of $3 million. A million goes to the driver's selected charity, a million to the driver and a million to one lucky fan. 

Race highlights and lowlights:
Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR
  • Ryan Newman starts on the pole and chooses the outside line to take the green flag
  • Jeff Gordon takes the lead at lap 5, leads for 29 laps
  • lap 33 - caution #1 - debris after pit stops, Keselowski takes the lead 
  • lap 105 - caution #2 - debris, Johnson takes lead on the restart
  • lap 122- flat tire for Greg Biffle, no caution 
  • lap 130 - caution #3 - Travis Kvapil goes up in smoke, debris on track
  • lap 299 - caution #4 - A multi-car accident in Turn 3. The No. 30 of David Stremme hits David Reutimann, Reutimann wrecks and in the process collects Denny Hamlin and Paul Menard. 
  • lap 362 - caution #5 - Three wide racing results in the cars of Mark Martin, Brian Vickers and Bobby Labonte being wrecked. Martin was forced to the garage with damage and finished 38th after smacking the inside wall, causing heavy damage. 
  • lap 415 - caution #6 - The No. 18 of Kyle Busch slapped the wall after racing three wide with Andy Lally and Martin Truex Jr. 
Race results:
  1. Brad Keselowski
  2. Martin Truex Jr.
  3. Jeff Gordon
  4. Jimmie Johnson
  5. Jamie McMurray
  6. Matt Kenseth
  7. Denny Hamlin
  8. Ryan Newman
  9. Carl Edwards
  10. Marcos Ambrose
  11. Kasey Kahne
  12. AJ Allmendinger
  13. Joey Logano
  14. Kyle Busch
  15. Jeff Burton
  16. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
  17. Kurt Busch
  18. Regan Smith
  19. Juan Pablo Montoya
  20. David Ragan
  21. Brian Vickers
  22. Kevin Harvick
  23. Casey Mears
  24. David Gilliland
  25. Andy Lally
  26. Clint Bowyer
  27. David Starr
  28. Tony Stewart
  29. Mike Bliss
  30. Paul Menard
  31. Greg Biffle
  32. David Stremme
  33. Terry Labonte
  34. Bobby Labonte
  35. Dave Blaney
  36. David Reutimann
  37. Travis Kvapil
  38. Mark Martin
  39. Michael McDowell 
  40. Joe Nemechek
  41. Mike Skinner
  42. Scott Speed
  43. Robby Gordon
Keselowski adds another win to his Chase efforts Keselowski adds another win to his Chase efforts Reviewed by Unknown on Saturday, August 27, 2011 Rating: 5