NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski greets fans during drivers' introductions before Sunday's Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.MARTINSVILLE, Va. - Brad Keselowski gave both Team Penske and the new Ford Mustang a third NASCAR Cup Series victory through the first six races of the season by routing the field at Martinsville Speedway.
Keselowski led 446 of the 500 laps Sunday afternoon around the shortest track on the circuit and was only challenged a handful of times by Chase Elliott - the only driver to pass Keselowski on the track.
Although Elliott led 49 laps in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro, a late caution sent the field to pit road and Keselowski beat Elliott back to the track. Elliott could never get close enough to challenge Keselowski for the win again.
"The car was really good. Just a great day for a team," Keselowski said. "Just one of those days you dream of as a race car driver, where you've got a great car."
The 446 laps led is the most for a winning driver in a Cup Series race since Kyle Petty led 484 to win at Rockingham Speedway in 1992. It was the most laps Keselowski has ever led in a single race, passing his 312 out front at Texas Motor Speedway in 2015.
Keselowski credited the offseason work by Ford, which rolled out a new Cup Series car at the start of the season, as well as the Team Penske pit stops that sent him off pit road first every time he came in for service.
"Ford worked really hard in the offseason to build these cars and make them real strong, and so far, so good," he said. "It's just a great day for our team, awesome execution on pit road. Those guys work really hard."
Elliott coming up short meant Chevy remained shut out in Cup Series races this year. Toyota won the three races not taken by Penske and Ford drivers.
Martinsville, a 0.526-mile, paperclip-shaped track, typically forces drivers to gouge each other out of the way. The tight confines raise the aggravation levels for most in the field and usually leads to bumping, banging and busted-up race cars. However, NASCAR's new rules package, in its first stop at a short track, seemed to hamper drivers' ability to close on the leader, limiting passing opportunities.
The one time Elliott did pass Keselowski, he studied Elliott's lines and took notes for when he was back out front.
"He was certainly faster on that short run, and when he passed me I learned just enough," Keselowski said. "The pit crew got me back in front of him on the next-to-last pit stop, and I seemed to kind of apply the lessons."
Keselowski began the race third, behind Penske teammate Joey Logano - who led the first five laps after starting in pole position - and Stewart-Haas Racing's Aric Almirola. Keselowski briefly nudged Logano out of the groove on the sixth lap and took off for the rout that earned him his second grandfather clock, the trophy for Martinsville winners.
Elliott's second-place finish is the first top-five showing for a Hendrick Motorpsorts driver this season.
"I felt like we were about as even with him as we could be," said Elliott, who second-guessed the timing of one of his attempts to pass Keselowski. "When he did get the lead, there was a little advantage to being out front, being able to work traffic. I tried to move up there at the end, and I don't know if I could have got to him. Maybe if I moved up a little sooner - maybe next time."
Kyle Busch was third in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch had won two consecutive Cup Series races before Sunday and was seeking a weekend sweep after winning Saturday's Truck Series race at Martinsville. He notched his fifth top-five finish of the season while making his 1,000th start in a NASCAR national series event.
"We fought hard for today's finish, not a finish that we wanted to get," Busch said. "Thought we had a chance to win actually, but could have been a whole lot worse. We'll go on."
Penske driver Ryan Blaney was fourth, while JGR driver Denny Hamlin, a five-time Martinsville winner, was fifth. Stewart-Haas Racing drivers Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer were sixth and seventh, JGR driver Martin Truex Jr. was eighth and SHR's Almirola and Daniel Suarez completed the top 10.
Rookie is IndyCar's youngest winner
AUSTIN, Texas - IndyCar rookie Colton Herta became the youngest winner in series history Sunday when he captured the inaugural IndyCar Classic after a late-race crash near the entry to pit row helped him steal past the leaders to the checkered flag.
Team Penske's Will Power, who started from pole position and dominated through 45 laps, was caught out by the crash, still needing a tire change when pit row was closed. Power's race was doomed when he finally got to pit but his car's drive shaft failed and he couldn't get out.
Once the yellow flag was cleared, Herta powered away from former series champions Josef Newgarden and Ryan Hunter-Reay over the final 10 laps to get the win for Harding Steinbrenner Racing.
The previous youngest IndyCar winner was Graham Rahal in 2008 at age 19. Herta turns 19 on Saturday.