Brad Keselowski stretched it out to win again at Kentucky Speedway Saturday night (7/9) in the Quaker State 400.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series raced at Kentucky for the first time since the speedway’s track had been resurfaced and slightly reconfigured. That meant the teams and drivers were not 100% sure what to expect during the Quaker State 400. Some drivers had issues on the track and some had issues on pit row that removed them from contention of the win.

One of the drivers that had no real issues during the race was Brad Keselowski. Brad started on the front row next to Kevin Harvick who had the pole position to start the race. Kevin looked as though he would be the car to beat as he led a race high 128 of the 267 laps. However, it would be a fuel gamble that would put Brad in position to win the race.

While many of the leaders hit pit row for fuel, Brad and his team decided to take the chance that he could save enough to put his car in Victory Lane.

With the laps running down, Brad a huge lead by not stopping for fuel. However, it was still unclear if he would have enough to make it to the checkered flag. Brad slowed down to save while Carl Edwards charged forward to challenge for the win.

With just a couple of laps left, Carl got to the back of Brad’s car. While many thought Brad was running out of gas, he not only blocked Carl from passing, but also started driving faster to pull away from Carl a little.

When the checkered flag waived over the Quaker State 400, it was Brad grabbing his second consecutive 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup win following his win at Daytona last week. The win was also Brad’s third at Kentucky Speedway (now the most Sprint Cup wins all-time at the track) and his fourth win of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season.

Carl Edwards held on for the runner-up finish with Ryan Newman taking the third place finish. Kurt Busch grabbed fourth place with Tony Stewart rounding out the top five. See the complete race results for the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway here.

Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch remain one, two and three in the driver point standings respectively. Carl Edwards moves up a spot to fourth with Joey Logano falling back one place to fifth. See the NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings here.

Brad now sits at the top of the Chase Grid as the only driver with four 2016 Sprint Cup wins. That means the total number of drivers with a win that are all but locked into The Chase remains at 11 following the Quaker State 400. Tony Stewart’s top-five finish at Kentucky extends his point lead over 31st place to 31 points. Tony has a win and has to remain in the top 30 in the point standings to have a chance to race for the championship in his final Sprint Cup season. Check out the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase Grid here.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series heads to the “Magic Mile” of New Hampshire Motor Speedway this week for the New Hampshire 301 Sunday, July 17th.

By: Buck Stevens