Keselowski captures fourth Nationwide win at Kansas

Brad Keselowski and the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger cruised to victory in the Kansas Lottery 300 that ran at Kansas Speedway this afternoon. Keslowski has now won four times in his last nine NASCAR Nationwide Series starts.

Keselowski led the race for 173 of the 200 laps, tying Kyle Busch’s 2009 record for the most laps led by any driver in a single race at Kansas.

“The car was just phenomenal, absolutely a phenomenal race car,” Keselowski said after the race. “It was just one of those races that you’re trying to figure out what to do not to lose it which, it’s certainly a blessing to have one of those days. It can be one of the tougher days in the car because the heat is on you as a driver. So I was trying not to screw it up. I about did. I got behind Carl there with 20-some to go and for a minute there, I wasn’t sure if I could get back by. I just kept working it, working it, working it trying to get by him. The strength of our Dodge showed up. A great day for us. I thought there was a lot of great racing through the field. Certainly, we had the best car. There have been weeks when we haven’t had the best car. That’s the thing about this sport, it cycles back and forth. Today was our day with the best car. As a race car driver, the expectations that I have for myself, when you have one of those cars, is to make the most of it. I’m very proud of our whole team that we were able to do that.”

This was the first victory at Kansas for Penske Racing.

Blake Koch trimmed nine points off Timmy Hill’s lead in the Rookie of the Year competition. Koch, in the No. 81 Daystar.com Dodge, finished 25th while Hill had to leave the race after Lap 87 when his No. 15 Poynt Ford developed engine trouble.

Next Nationwide Series race is the Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage at Charlotte Motor Speedway next Friday, October 14. The action starts at 7:30 PM, Eastern Time and you can catch it on ESPN2.