NNS Race Recap: Kansas Lottery 300 - Keselowski sails his way to Victory

Credit: Tom Whitmore/Getty Images for NASCAR

Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge, dominated the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. He led 173 laps of this 200-lap race and beat second place finisher Carl Edwards by 2.7 seconds to capture the checkered flag. This is his first Nationwide victory and fourth top-10 finish in six races at this particular race track. It also marks Keselowski's 16th victory in 164 Nationwide series races.

Keselowski is optimistic about his competitiveness in tomorrow's Cup race and believes that he can translate some of the things he learned in today's Nationwide race: "Well, in this sport you're always learning. No matter how long you've been doing it, things change: tires change, tracks change, cars change and you've got to keep learning if you're going to keep on top. I certainly learned some stuff today and very appreciative of the opportunity, but I think I'll be a better driver come tomorrow that's for sure."

Todd Gordon, crew chief of the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge, commented on the key to today's dominating performance: "Brad Keselowski does a lot for this Discount Tire Dodge. You know, the guys keep working, we keep building new race cars. This is a brand new car. We keep pushing. The shop is doing an awesome job pushing forward, building us a little better parts, a little better pieces and obviously having that guy behind the wheel puts the whole program together, Discount Tire giving us great support, Dodge for all their support. They really help us."

Pole sitter Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 60 Fastenal Ford, ran a strong race throughout the day; however, he was unable to hold off Keselowski during the final laps of the race and had to settle for the runner-up position. One of his main goals is to win a race at his home track and he is hoping that the Cup race brings a different result than this one.

"I would really like to win here. The thing that makes it easier is knowing we get to race tomorrow and I got another chance at it. It was fun to be able to race there at the end a little bit of that last restart. I had a little hope that maybe we could hold them off for a while but as it ended up that was not the case. I guess that I am just excited about tomorrow's race. Second place was tough. I want to win here more than anything and second place is tough to swallow but hopefully we can do one better tomorrow."

The NASCAR Nationwide drivers who rounded out the top-10 finishing order for the Kansas Lottery 300 were: Elliott Sadler (No. 2), Paul Menard (No. 33), Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (No. 6), Kevin Harvick (No. 4), Joey Logano (No. 18), Brian Vickers (No. 32), Trevor Bayne (No. 16) and Ryan Truex (No. 20).

Race Highlights/Notables:

• Nine lead changes and five different leaders (Keselowski, Edwards, Almirola, Leffler & Clements
• There were six cautions for 30 laps (spin in Turn 2, two for debris, two for oil on the track and accident in Turn 2 involving the No. 23 of Angela Cope)
• Nine infractions (six for pitting before pit road is open, two for speed entering pit road and pre-race to the rear for No. 27)
• Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. finished fifth and is still the Nationwide points leader
• Elliott Sadler finished third and is currently 20 points behind the points leader, Stenhouse Jr.
• Ryan Truex rounded out the top-10 and is the Sunoco Rookie of the Race
  

Unofficial Race Results: http://nationwide.nascar.com/nationwide-series/races/results/.

The next stop for the NASCAR Nationwide Series is Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 14 and it will be aired on ESPN2 at 7:30 p.m. ET.