Brad Keselowski (2) celebrates his win with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup series auto race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014.JOLIET, Ill. – With a daring drive through the middle, Brad Keselowski showed how badly he wants to win another championship.
Keselowski used a three-wide pass of Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday to win the opening race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. The victory automatically advances Keselowski into the second round of the 10-race Chase, which will eliminate four drivers every third race under NASCAR’s new format.
As his Team Penske team celebrated in Victory Lane, Keselowski moved his name on a bracket-type Chase grid into the next round.
“Man, the next two weeks are going to be a lot of fun, knowing we don’t have to worry too much and we are going to move up,” said Keselowski, who opened the Chase as the top seed.
As Larson and Harvick staged a hold-your-breath, side-by-side race for the lead following a restart with 19 laps remaining, Keselowski charged through the middle to grab control of the race. He easily pulled away from the field while Harvick and Larson had their hands full trying to hold off Jeff Gordon.