Keselowski holds off Hamlin for Nationwide win at Charlotte

With air temperatures soaring past 90 degrees and track temperatures reaching
well over 120 degrees, Keselowski conserved enough fuel in the late going and
then held off his fellow Sprint Cup Series competitor, Denny Hamlin, during
the closing laps for the victory.

Keselowski drove the final 73 laps around the 1.5-mile racetrack without
pitting. The Penske Racing driver grabbed the lead on lap 143 when he opted
not to pit while most of the other frontrunners came in for their final stops.

Keselowski has now won 18 races in NASCAR’s second-tier series, including two
at Charlotte. His first win at this track came in October 2010.

Hamlin experienced an issue with his carburetor and fell one lap behind early
in the racing, but the Joe Gibbs Racing driver rebounded nicely with a second-
place run. He ended up finishing 0.8 seconds behind Keselowski.

Kyle Busch finished third, while Kevin Harvick took the fourth spot. Harvick
dominated most of the race by leading 92 of 200 laps but faded at the end.

Elliott Sadler’s fifth-place finish coupled with a 26th-place run for Ricky
Stenhouse Jr. allowed Sadler to trim Stenhouse’s points lead from 28 to 13.

Stenhouse suffered a broken driveshaft and spent 21 laps in the garage for
repairs.

Danica Patrick finished 13th after starting third, while Travis Pastrana wound
up five laps behind in 24th place. Pastrana spun around coming out of turn
four two separate times in the early going. He also spun during his qualifying
run earlier in the day and therefore had to start from the rear of the field.