Hamilton Jr. edges Keller at Kentucky

SPARTA, Ky. -- Bobby Hamilton Jr. wasn't going to let a loose lug nut ruin his chance at victory Saturday night.

Despite dominating the early portion of the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway, Hamilton had to rally to chase down Jason Keller in the final laps for the victory.

"This is awesome," Hamilton said in Victory Lane. "This is what we've worked for all year long."

Hamilton grabbed the lead at the drop of the green flag and built a lead of nearly nine seconds over Bud Pole sitter Stacy Compton over the first 66 laps. His blistering pace left just 15 cars on the lead lap once green-flag pit stops began.

Ron Hornday and Johnny Sauter acquired the lead for a total of three laps after Hamilton pitted, but Hamilton moved right back to the point on lap 70.

Randy Lajoie's day went from bad to worse when his car ran out of fuel, then returned two more times to pit road for a flat tire and a speeding violation. On lap 86, his engine expired, bringing out the first caution.

Hamilton had to give up the lead after his crew failed to get the lug nuts tight on his machine, costing him an extra pit stop during the yellow and forcing him to restart 12th.

Scott Riggs chased down Hornaday, taking the lead for the first time on lap 109. But Hamilton moved quickly back to the front, shadowing Riggs for several laps until the caution flew again on lap 145 when the lapped cars of Mike Harmon and Kerry Earnhardt wrecked as the leaders were preparing to pass.

After another yellow for Brad Teague's hard hit, Hornaday and Riggs touched on the restart with less than 35 laps to go, sending Riggs on a wild slide that heavily damaged the left side of his car. Riggs was forced to return to the garage area to replace the radiator.

Riggs finished 30th and lost the Busch Series points lead to David Green, who was eighth.

On the final restart, Keller took the lead from Hornaday and led for 24 laps with Hamilton looming in his rear-view mirror.

"The 25 was a little better than we were at the end of the race," Keller said.