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BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Brad Keselowski grabbed the lead on a restart with eight laps to go, then pulled away to win the NASCAR Nationwide race at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday.
Carl Edwards finished second, barely edging out a charging Kyle Busch. Justin Allgaier was fourth, followed by Paul Menard.
It was the fourth Nationwide victory of the season and 10th of his career for Keselowski, who holds a dominant lead in the series points standings.
Meanwhile, it was another rough day at the racetrack for Danica Patrick, who went down a lap to the leaders early on and struggled to a 27th-place finish.
Keselowski won despite clutch issues that gave him problems during pit stops — and during an attempt at a post-race victory burnout.
“It kind of killed the burnout there, but I was trying,” Keselowski said in a television interview.
It was the second race for NASCAR’s next-generation Nationwide car, which made its debut at Daytona.
“I thought the car raced really well,” Edwards said.
Keselowski dominated the first half of the race, at one point holding a lead of more than 11 seconds. But Keselowski’s clutch acted up on a pit stop near the race’s halfway point, causing him to lose the lead to Menard.
Keselowski then spent much of the race going side-to-side with his nemesis, Edwards, without incident. Both drivers are on probation for a recent confrontation at Gateway International Raceway.
Edwards took the lead on lap 77, with Keselowski on his tail as Menard slipped to third. After some close racing through slower traffic, Keselowski then went back to the lead with 40 laps to go.
Kevin Harvick pitted from third place with 24 laps to go, leaving Keselowski and Edwards in the top two spots before they made their own final stops. Edwards pitted with 22 to go, and Keselowski one lap later.
Still battling clutch problems, Keselowski had trouble getting out of his pits but managed to make it back on the track with only a minimal delay.
Edwards held the lead after the final round of pit stops, as Harvick slid out of contention with a large piece of debris stuck in the front end of his car. He finished 10th.
Meanwhile, Patrick wasn’t competitive.
After going a lap down early, Patrick made a green-flag pit stop on lap 32 so her crew could make major suspension adjustments in an attempt to fix the car’s handling. Patrick then made a mistake coming off pit road, going above the “blend” line as she re-entered the racetrack, and had to serve a pass-through penalty on pit road.
In six Nationwide series starts this season, Patrick’s best finish is 24th at Chicagoland last month
