Brad Keselowski wins after stunning Talladega NASCAR Sprint Cup finish
Brad Keselowski celebrates with Phoenix Racing owner James Finch after he won the Aaron's 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway. // David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
TALLADEGA, Ala. – In one of the most sensational finishes in NASCAR history, part-time driver Brad Keselowski scored his first Sprint Cup victory in a wild confrontation with Carl Edwards in the closing seconds of the Aaron’s 499 Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.
Keselowski helped push Edwards past the drafting pair of Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to put Edwards in first with a lap to go. As Edwards and Keselowski approached the checkered flag, Edwards stayed low to block. Keselowski, driving for Spartanburg, S.C.-based Phoenix Racing, a part-time team in the Sprint Cup Series, bumped Edwards and sent him into a spin and into the air. Edwards’ car fell onto Newman’s and then spiraled into the fence separating the track from the main grandstand.
Keselowski, 25, finished first, followed by Hendrick Motorsports' Earnhardt Jr and Stewart-Haas Racing's Newman.
Edwards climbed from his car and ran on foot to cross the finish line.
“We’ll race like this until they kill somebody and they’ll change it,” Roush Fenway Racing's Edwards said.
His crash appeared to rip part of the fencing along the frontstretch. Some flying parts went into the grandstand.
The finish was set up by a late-race caution that bunched the field and placed Newman, Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch in the lead group.
The caution was caused by a 10-car crash on the backstretch in the closing laps. It started with contact between Denny Hamlin and Juan Pablo Montoya and eventually enveloped Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr. and others.
The day was typically Talladega, as large packs of drafting cars swept around the giant speedway much of the afternoon. There were three huge crashes, a list of close calls and a couple of single-car spins that resulted in great saves by Michael Waltrip and Kurt Busch. In an odd occurrence that fit with Talladega’s wacky history, one caution period was caused by a shield falling off a caution light on the track fence.
“The Big One” occurred only six laps into the race as contact between Hendrick's Jeff Gordon and Roush Fenway's Matt Kenseth ignited a 14-car crash between turns 3 and 4. Damage sent Gordon to the garage, along with Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray and Clint Bowyer.
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