Brad Keselowski wins Federated Auto Parts 400; Newman, Biffle secure final 2 Chase spots
Brad Keselowski owned the pole at Richmond, he lead for 383 of 400 laps, and stayed in first as the checkered flag was waived at the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday night.
Kewselowski's dominant performance earns him the lead atop the Chase standings, too, in a race that saw the final two Chase berths locked up by Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle. The field of 16 is now set, and Keselowski has to be considered a strong favorite after handling a talent-heavy front of the pack at Richmond.
The leaderboard saw Jeff Gordon, who was atop the Sprint Cup Series standings entering Saturday's run, finish second and Clint Bowyer, who needed a win to earn a Chase berth, finish third. It has to be disappointing for both runners up, as Gordon lost by just 0.8 seconds after fighting close for the entire back half of the race and Bowyer misses out on the Chase by the narrowest of margins (seven points).
Here are how the 16 drivers are seeded for the Chase, according to ABC's broadcast:
Seed | Car | Racer |
---|---|---|
1 | 2 | Keselowski |
2 | 24 | Gordon |
3 | 88 | Earnhardt Jr. |
4 | 22 | Logano |
5 | 48 | Johnson |
6 | 4 | Harvick |
7 | 99 | Edwards |
8 | 5 | Kahne |
9 | 18 | Ky. Busch |
10 | 11 | Hamlin |
11 | 41 | Ku. Busch |
12 | 43 | Almirola |
13 | 47 | Allmendinger |
14 | 20 | Kenseth |
15 | 31 | Newman |
16 | 16 | Biffle |
Here are the UNOFFICIAL race results from Saturday night:
Pos. | No. | Driver | Pts. |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | 830 |
2 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | 914 |
3 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | 746 |
4 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | 706 |
5 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | 788 |
6 | 22 | Joey Logano | 829 |
7 | 41 | Kurt Busch | 651 |
8 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | 802 |
9 | 31 | Ryan Newman | 782 |
10 | 43 | Aric Almirola | 628 |
11 | 42 | Kyle Larson | 737 |
12 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 883 |
13 | 55 | Brian Vickers | 681 |
14 | 18 | Kyle Busch | 687 |
15 | 14 | Tony Stewart | 569 |
16 | 10 | Danica Patrick | 528 |
17 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | 735 |
18 | 27 | Paul Menard | 701 |
19 | 16 | Greg Biffle | 753 |
20 | 3 | Austin Dillon | 698 |
21 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | 659 |
22 | 99 | Carl Edwards | 777 |
23 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | 611 |
24 | 36 | Reed Sorenson | 355 |
25 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | 580 |
26 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 556 |
27 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | 645 |
28 | 51 | Justin Allgaier | 459 |
29 | 38 | David Gilliland | 407 |
30 | 26 | Cole Whitt | 367 |
31 | 13 | Casey Mears | 596 |
32 | 98 | Josh Wise | 319 |
33 | 34 | David Ragan | 381 |
34 | 40 | Landon Cassill | |
35 | 37 | Mike Bliss | |
36 | 90 | David Stremme | 64 |
37 | 7 | Michael Annett | 400 |
38 | 23 | Alex Bowman | 310 |
39 | 32 | Travis Kvapil | 149 |
40 | 66 | Joe Nemechek | |
41 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | 797 |
42 | 83 | Ryan Truex | 191 |
43 | 93 | J.J. Yeley |
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