The Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway saw temperatures of more than 100 degrees, but despite the heat, and participating in all three NASCAR races this weekend, Brad Keselowski is victorious.
The No. 2 driver beat the fuel odds, extending his last few gallons of fuel way beyond what was anticipated in order to win Sunday’s race, according to Kentucky.com .
Keselowski, who has already stacked up wins at Bristol and Talladega in the Sprint Cup Series this year, stated after the win that:
“What a weekend for us. We hit the wall on the first lap of practice. Our backup car is from the Chase last year. It’s not the newest car we have but it sure runs.”
The Quaker State 400 was not Keselowski’s only race this weekend, as he also participated in the Nationwide Series race, as well as the Camping World Truck Series race, both of which saw temperatures over 100 degrees.
Kasey Kahne, driver of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5, came in second, with Denny Hamlin in his No. 11 coming in third. Sporting News reports that Kahne had a late surge that took him to second, finishing behind Keselowski by 4.399 seconds. Kahne told reporters after the race:
“I just hoped he’d run out of gas. No way I was catching him. We had stopped (for a fill-up) and I was hoping he’d shut down.”
Third place Hamlin announced via Twitter that he had signed a contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing, and was excited about the finish, despite being disappointed that his car did not run better. He stated, according to Sporting News, that:
“It’s a great day. When you know you’re locked in where you’re going to race for really long time, it’s a good feeling. Those guys (at JGR) have given me a championship-caliber racing team.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won last week, came in fourth in Sunday’s Quaker State 400, with Jeff Gordon rounding out the top 5, giving Hendrick Motorsports 3 of the top 5 spots for the race.
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