Keselowski Wins Playoff Opener in Las Vegas

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Brad Keselowski won his third race in a row on Sunday at the South Point Hotel and Casinos 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

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Keselowski was able to grab the lead late, but he had to hold off his teammate Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. over numerous late restarts to get to victory lane.

Keselowski said his pit crew’s strong pit stops and their strong restarts got them to victory lane.

“It’s really a testament to this team; they’ve been so strong on pit road,” Keselowski said.  “We nailed the pit stops and the restarts when it counted and that put us in position.”

The victory was the 500th for team owner Roger Penske across all racing series, and Penske was seen watching the race from the IndyCar Series finale at Sonoma Raceway.

Keselowski said he was honored to pick up such an important win for “The Captain.”

“500 wins today; huge day for ‘the Captain,’” Keselowski said.  “To start off the playoffs with a win is…really strong.”

Unofficial results:

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Kyle Larson

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Joey Logano

5. Ryan Blaney

6. Aric Almirola

7. Kyle Busch

8. Daniel Suarez

9. Ryan Newman

10. Paul Menard

11. Austin Dillon

12. Regan Smith

13. Trevor Bayne

14. AJ Allmendinger

15. Chris Buescher

16. Corey LaJoie

17. JJ Yeley

18. Landon Cassill

19. Alex Bowman

20. Ross Chastain

21. Kurt Busch

22. Jimmie Johnson

23. Clint Bowyer

24. Matt DiBenedetto

25. Jeffrey Earnhardt

26. Kyle Weatherman

27. David Ragan

28. BJ McLoed

29. Michael McDowell

30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

31. Reed Sorenson

32. Denny Hamlin

33. Timmy Hill

34. Ty Dillon

35. Jamie McMurray

36. Chase Elliott

37. William Byron

38. Darrell Wallace Jr.

39. Kevin Harvick

40. Erik Jones

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