Keselowski's crew gambles, wins at Auto Club Speedway

[March 23, 2015]  FONTANA, Calif. -- Brad Keselowski led only one lap of the Auto Club 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday, but it was the lap that counted, the last one. Keselowski, on four new tires, took the lead from Kurt Busch on the final lap to take the win at what he considered his worst track to claim his first win of the season.

"My crew chief, Paul Wolfe, made a gutsy call to take four tires. Half the field took two," Keselowski said.

Kevin Harvick finished second to Keselowski, extending his top-two streak to eight races, dating back to the final three races of the 2014 season.

"I'm not disappointed at all," Harvick said of seeing his streak of consecutive wins end at two races. "I'm just glad to be a part of such a good race there. I'm really happy that all the fans got to come out and see a great finish to a great day. I'm just really proud of everybody on our Jimmy John's/Budweiser team."

Busch finished third after leading a race-high 65 laps.

"I don't know what we could have done different," Busch said. "We just got pinned in by the yellows and the sequence at the end on which tires we needed to have to optimize how many laps were left. We had two tires; (Brad) Keselowski had four. We didn't need that extra yellow at the end and I just got out-muscled by Keselowski."

Busch and Harvick ran first and second when the yellow flag waved on lap 198, resulting in the first of two green-white-checker attempts. They, along with the other front runners, pitted during the caution, while Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle stayed out for track position. Busch, Harvick and many others took two tires, while Keselowski was among those who took four.

"You could have flipped a coin as to what the right strategy there was at the end with tires," Harvick said. "Just proud of Rodney Childers (crew chief) and the pit crew and everybody for just having a solid day."

As soon as the race restarted, Busch drove to the middle between Gordon and Stewart to take the lead, and Harvick followed him through to second just before another caution. Busch was able to maintain his lead on the final restart, but Keselowski quickly got by Harvick for second and then took the lead from Busch on the final lap. Just before crossing the start/finish line for the final time, Harvick took second from Busch.

Most of the race was dominated by a combination of Stewart-Haas Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing. The JGR duo of Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin combined to lead 99 laps, with Hamlin leading 56 laps and Kenseth 43. Busch's Stewart-Haas teammate, Harvick, led 34 laps. The only other driver to lead significant laps was Martin Truex Jr., the front-runner for five laps.

Hamlin fell out of contention after a pit road penalty for an uncontrolled tire on a pit stop during a lap 185 caution. He wound up finishing 28th. Kenseth was the race leader when the lap 185 caution came out, but a broken axle on pit road dropped him off the lead lap.

Paul Menard finished fourth and Ryan Newman was fifth.

NOTES: Brad Keselowski's previous average finish at Auto Club Speedway was 23rd. ... Kevin Harvick dominated the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at ACS on Saturday, leading 100 lap of the 150-lap race before winning. ... Kurt Busch had the fastest car throughout the race weekend, turning in the fastest laps throughout each practice session and winning the pole Friday. ... All 43 cars were on the track at the finish. It was the first time all 43 cars finished a race since the 2013 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. ... Kyle Busch won the two most recent Sprint Cup races at ACS, but he is still sidelined by injury. David Ragan drove Busch's No. 18 car but spun after contact with Jeff Gordon racing for seventh position on lap 23.

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