Ford Performance’s Brad Keselowski won the rain-delayed Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday following a series of strategic pit calls by crew chief Paul Wolfe. Keselowski’s Team Penske teammate Joey Logano crossed the finish line second, while Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson was the highest-finishing Team Chevy driver in third.
Las Vegas native Kyle Busch looked as though he had a strong shot at the win after running strong all day, however his car began to lose speed towards the end of the race. Keselowski passed him for the lead on Lap 262 shortly after a restart on lap 233 and the Toyota Driver fell through the ranks, winding up fourth at the checkered flag.
Keselowski’s bid for the lead began on Lap 217 when Wolfe elected to keep the car out as the entire field, save for Logano, Austin Dillon and him, pitted under caution. One lap after the green flag went back out, a wreck involving Matt Kenseth and Chase Elliott brought the track back under yellow flag conditions, widening Keselowski’s fuel window by enough to take him to the end of the race.
From there all the No. 2 Ford had to do was hold off his determined teammate, along with a hard-charging Jimmie Johnson, to take the win. The victory was Keselowski’s first in 33 races and was also the 97th ever NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory for Roger Penske and his team.
The second strongest Chevy of the day was Dillon in fifth, followed by Kevin Harvick in seventh, Dale Earnhardt Jr. in eighth, Kurt Busch in ninth and Kasey Kahne in tenth.
Team Chevy will be looking to improve on their result at Las Vegas when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Phoenix next week for the Good Sam 500. Click here for full results from Las Vegas and here for a full schedule of next weekend’s NASCAR festivities.
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