NNS: Keselowski Wins Last NASCAR Race at Indianapolis Raceway Park

In what might have been the last NASCAR race held at Lucas Oil Raceway, Brad Keselowski shoved past Ricky Stenhouse Jr. late to win the Kroger 200 in Clermont, Indiana.

Restarting eighth with 17 laps to go, Keselowski charged hard to fourth before Trevor Bayne’s engine expired with seven to go. Second place Justin Allgaier blew up just before the restart, allowing Keselowski to move to the front row.

Track position allowed Keselowski to battle for the win.

And battle he did over the final four laps with Keselowski pressing Stenhouse into the turn three wall.

The contact set off a chain reaction that caused Elliott Sadler to spin and collect his Kevin Harvick teammate Austin Dillon with him.

Keselowski ran away over a green-white-checkered finish and won his 14th-career Nationwide Series race and second of 2011.

“[Track position] was a key factor in winning,” Keselowski said. “I knew if I could get to the front row with the short-run speed that my car had, and knowing that Ricky was kind of struggling with long-run speed, I knew that was going to be a huge deciding factor in my favor.”

It’s a tough finish for Stenhouse, who led 189 of 200 laps but finished third. He did take the points lead from Reed Sorenson, who finished ninth. James Buescher captured second with Aric Almirola and Carl Edwards completing the top five.

Rounding out the top 10 were Jason Leffler, Joe Nemechek, Drew Herring, Reed Sorenson and Michael McDowell.

Stenhouse leads the championship battle by three points over Sorenson with Sadler trailing by 24.

The Nationwide Series next goes to Iowa Speedway for the U.S. Cellular 250 on Aug. 6. Kyle Busch is the defending winner.

The complete finishing order can be found after the jump!

Fin Str Car Driver Laps Pts Bns Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps

1 2 22 Brad Keselowski(i) Discount Tire Dodge 204 0 118.7 $30,925 Running 1 7
2 17 30 James Buescher(i) FOE Chevrolet 204 0 94.6 $36,968 Running
3 1 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Blackwell Angus Ford 204 43 2 144.1 $35,443 Running 3 189
4 13 88 Aric Almirola Grand Touring Vodka Chevrolet 204 40 94.3 $24,843 Running
5 3 60 Carl Edwards(i) Fastenal Ford 204 0 119.7 $16,300 Running 1 4
6 7 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Chevrolet 204 38 98.8 $18,893 Running
7 21 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 204 37 83.5 $19,718 Running
8 15 20 Drew Herring SportClips Toyota 204 36 83.4 $17,793 Running
9 16 32 Reed Sorenson Dollar General Chevrolet 204 35 84.2 $17,693 Running
10 9 18 Michael McDowell(i) Muscle Milk Toyota 204 0 100.1 $18,493 Running
11 14 19 Mike Bliss TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 204 33 79.9 $18,193 Running
12 11 09 Kenny Wallace Federated Auto Parts Toyota 204 32 82.0 $17,193 Running
13 18 70 David Stremme(i) Keen Parts Inc. Chevrolet 204 0 75.5 $17,543 Running
14 12 33 Austin Dillon(i) Rheem/Menards Chevrolet 204 0 102.2 $17,043 Running 1 4
15 6 11 Brian Scott Shore Lodge Toyota 204 29 91.3 $17,518 Running
16 42 2 Elliott Sadler OneMain Financial Chevrolet 203 28 92.0 $19,943 Running
17 24 01 Mike Wallace Cowboys & Aliens Chevrolet 202 27 64.5 $17,093 Running
18 26 51 Jeremy Clements Clements Racing Engines Chevrolet 202 26 61.9 $16,828 Running
19 20 7 Josh Wise iRacing.com Chevrolet 201 25 68.5 $16,793 Running
20 23 81 Blake Koch # K-Love Dodge 201 24 61.5 $18,458 Running
21 25 14 Eric McClure Hefty BlackOut/Reynolds Chevrolet 201 23 52.7 $10,225 Running
22 19 28 Derrike Cope MudJug.com Chevrolet 201 22 58.1 $16,643 Running
23 22 15 Timmy Hill # Rick Ware Racing Ford 199 21 55.8 $16,993 Running
24 30 52 Tim Schendel Metro Ministries/MDS Services Chevrolet 197 20 45.8 $10,050 Running
25 33 39 Matt Frahm Gilchrist Mfg. Ford 197 19 44.9 $17,073 Running
26 34 41 Fain Skinner Carport Empire Chevrolet 197 18 41.4 $9,930 Running
27 4 31 Justin Allgaier Deft Finishes Chevrolet 193 17 94.5 $16,343 Oil Pump
28 5 16 Trevor Bayne RickyvsTrevor.com Ford 188 16 102.9 $16,313 Engine
29 8 62 Michael Annett Pilot/Flying J Toyota 174 15 85.7 $16,293 Accident
30 10 66 Steve Wallace 5-hour Energy Toyota 174 14 73.3 $16,573 Accident
31 31 40 Tim Andrews Key Motorsports Chevrolet 169 13 46.4 $9,760 Accident
32 32 89 Morgan Shepherd Victory In Jesus Chevrolet 33 12 47.2 $9,740 Handling
33 27 44 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 26 11 53.0 $10,120 Overheating
34 28 23 Dennis Setzer R3 Motorsports Dodge 21 10 43.3 $9,700 Brakes
35 29 49 Mark Green Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 16 9 35.9 $9,655 Brakes
36 39 04 Danny O’Quinn Jr. Go Green Racing Ford 13 8 42.6 $9,635 Electrical
37 38 75 Johnny Chapman Lilly Trucking Ford 12 7 36.2 $9,600 Overheating
38 35 74 Mike Harmon IPT Pellet Grills Chevrolet 11 6 35.3 $9,565 Brakes
39 40 42 Scott Wimmer Key Motorsports Chevrolet 9 5 31.6 $9,545 Brakes
40 36 47 Charles Lewandoski # Key Motorsports Chevrolet 8 4 30.5 $9,465 Vibration
41 37 46 Chase Miller Key Motorsports Chevrolet 7 3 31.7 $9,420 Brakes
42 41 13 Jennifer Jo Cobb # TenForJen.com Ford 2 2 29.4 $9,385 Handling