FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -Brad Keselowski clinched the Nationwide season title by finishing third in Texas on Saturday, giving owner Roger Penske his first championship in one of NASCAR’s national series.
Keselowski, who had to finish only 21st or better to wrap up the driver’s championship with two races left, crossed the line behind winner Carl Edwards and runner-up Kyle Busch.
“What a terrific season it has been for Brad,” Penske said.
While Keselowski did celebratory doughnuts in his No. 22 Dodge, Edwards got the checkered flag and went into the stands to mark his 28th career Nationwide victory with fans sitting on the frontstretch.
Edwards charged ahead on the final restart, a green-white-checker finish that added five laps to the scheduled 200-lap race. Busch was denied a NASCAR-record sixth consecutive win at Texas and claimed that Edwards took off early.
“Carl Edwards jumped the restart by about three (car) lengths,” an obviously annoyed Busch said. “The race is over. Guy’s in Victory Lane. Doesn’t matter.”
Busch led three times for a race-high 107 laps. Edwards also led three times for 59 laps.
While Keselowski has clinched the driver’s title, the No. 22 is still second in owner points behind the Joe Gibbs-owned No. 18 driven by Busch.
Edwards actually withstood two late restarts to beat Busch. The first was after his 1.69-second lead was wiped out when a car four laps down spun, bringing out the caution.
On the restart on lap 191, Busch went down inside while Edwards went high around Trevor Bayne, who was leading only because he didn’t take the final stop. Once they got around Bayne, Edwards and Busch were going side-by-side before Edwards pushed ahead.
A few laps later, Brian Scott hit the wall hard and parts were coming off his car. But there wasn’t a caution until two laps later when Clint Bowyer’s car starting smoking on the frontstretch.
Edwards had the inside spot on the final restart, quickly charging ahead and was never really challenged over the final two laps to the checkered flag.
Winning a championship is a big step for Keselowski, a talented young driver best known for some high-profile run-ins with Edwards. Keselowski first gained national attention in April 2009 at Talladega after bumping Edwards on the final stretch, sending his rival’s car flying into the catch fence in a frightening crash.
After Edwards finished celebrating his victory in the stands Saturday, he leaned into the cockpit to congratulate Keselowski before getting back into his own car.
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