Keselowski takes Talladega victory on wild final lap

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- The yellow line at Talladega might as well have been a brick wall.

That was the mind-set of infrequent Sprint Cup competitor Brad Keselowski, who pulled off a Sunday surprise in the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway by standing his ground in the final moments of the race.

Aaron's 499

Results

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Brad Keselowski	Chevrolet
2.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet
3.	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet
4.	Marcos Ambrose	Toyota
5.	Scott Speed	Toyota
6.	Kurt Busch	Dodge
7.	Greg Biffle	Ford
8.	Brian Vickers	Toyota
9.	Joey Logano	Toyota
10.	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet

• Results | Photos | Race Rewind

With Carl Edwards' No. 99 Ford flying hard into the catch fence behind him, Keselowski crossed the finish line .175 seconds ahead of his mentor, Dale Earnhardt Jr., to win his first Cup race in his fifth start in the series (watch video).

Driving the No. 09 Chevrolet of owner James Finch, Keselowski, 25, moved to the inside when Edwards went high to block him in the final 400 yards of the 188-lap race. Edwards slid back down the track in another attempt to block, but Keselowski already was inside his left-rear quarter panel.

Contact between the cars turned Edwards and lifted his rear tires off the pavement. Edwards flew into the path of third-place finisher Ryan Newman's Chevrolet, and that collision launched Edwards into the fence (watch video). Newman's wrecked car slid across the finish line.

In the melee, Marcos Ambrose came home fourth, followed by rookie Scott Speed, who recovered from a one-lap penalty because his crew made changes to the No. 82 Toyota outside impound. Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers, rookie Joey Logano and Jeff Burton completed the top 10.

This past October, NASCAR took a victory away from Regan Smith for passing Tony Stewart below the yellow line that divides the racing surface from the apron. In the drivers' meeting before the race, David Hoots, managing events director for NASCAR, made it clear that anyone improving position by passing below the yellow line would be penalized.

Accordingly, Keselowski wasn't about to go out of bounds on the final lap, even if it meant wrecking Edwards.

"I've got to apologize to Carl for wrecking him, but, man, the rule is you can't go below the yellow line," Keselowski said. "He blocked, and I wasn't going to go below. I don't want to wreck the guy, but you're forced in that situation. There was nothing else that I could do.

"We had a lot of fun [Sunday night]. Man, was that fun. This is NASCAR racing, and that was cool."

Edwards' version of events was surprisingly close to Keselowski's, given that the wreck dropped him to 24th at the finish (watch video).

"Brad was pushing -- he's doing everything he can," said Edwards, who climbed from his car and sprinted the last 100 yards to the finish line. "I saw him go high. I went high. He goes low right here. I didn't realize he had got that far, so I went low to block, and I didn't realize he was already there. ...

"NASCAR just puts us in this box. Brad did a great job. Congrats to him on the win. But they put us in this box, and we'll race like this until we kill somebody, and then they'll change it. ... That's what Brad's supposed to do. He's assuming I know he's inside. It was so quick I didn't know he was inside.

Wreck reaches fans

Eight fans sustained injuries that ranged from contusions to possible fractured extremities when Carl Edwards' car slammed into the catch fence.

• For the story, click here
• Menzer: Too dangerous
• Video: Doctor's updates
• Forums: Talk about it

"We saw what happened to Regan Smith. You can't go down below the yellow line or you lose the race. [Keselowski] was winning, and I was doing everything I could to keep him from winning. I'm just glad I'm all right. I didn't know if it mattered if I went across the finish line -- but I just wanted to finish the race."

Keselowski won the race in a four-lap dash to the finish that followed the second major wreck of the afternoon, a 10-car incident on the backstretch that was triggered by contact between Denny Hamlin and Juan Montoya (watch video).

Keselowski and Edwards hooked up in a two-car tour de force and surged to the front, as Keselowski pushed Edwards past Newman and Earnhardt, who likewise were locked in a two-car tandem.

The Big One came early. Before the race was seven laps old, as the field streaked through the third and fourth corners, the cars of Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon violated one of the fundamental laws of physics -- they tried to occupy the same space at the same time.

Contact between the cars trigged a massive wreck (watch video) that cost Gordon 55 laps before his crew could complete repairs. Mark Martin, last weekend's race winner at Phoenix, retired to the garage with irreparable damage.

Among the cars crippled in the crash were the Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets of Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick and the Richard Petty Motorsports Dodges of Kasey Kahne and A.J. Allmendinger.

Notes: The win was the first for Finch in 105 Cup starts. Finch's first Cup race was in 1990 with Jeff Purvis driving. Finch has raced in the Nationwide Series since 1989 and has 11 wins. ... Kurt Busch took the series lead from Gordon, who now trails by five points. Gordon finished 37th. ... Jimmie Johnson, a victim of the 10-car wreck on Lap 180, finished 30th and is 64 points behind in third.

Press Pass
• Brad Keselowski | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Ryan Newman