RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Brad Keselowski passed Brian Scott on a restart with 11 laps to go Friday night and pulled away after another restart with six laps remaining to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Richmond.
Keselowski has five victories and a runner-up finish in his last six series starts.
Scott, seeking his first victory in 134 starts in the series, led the first 239 laps before Keselowski made the outside groove work for him, overtaking Scott after some side-by-side battling on his way to his 25th career victory in the series, and the 19th in a row for a Cup Series regular at Richmond.
Scott's team protested that Keselowski beat him to the line on the next-to-last restart, then got started too early on the final one, but to no avail, leaving Scott questioning why the rules exist.
"We deserved to win that race," he said just after climbing from the car as Keselowski celebrated on the track. "Just some restarts and some questionable calls got us there at the end."
For most of the night, it looked as if the 1,000th race in Nationwide history would be Scott's coming out party. He arrived having led all of 38 laps in 133 prior starts, and seemed on his way to getting that first victory in dominant fashion.
Virginia 529 College Savings 250
Friday
Richmond, Va.
Lap Length: .75 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
Car maker abbreviations: C=Chevrolet, D=Dodge, F=Ford, T=Toyota
1. (4) Bra. Keselowski, F, 250 laps, 0 points, $42,640.
2. (1) B. Scott, C, 250, 44, $49,950.
3. (8) R. Smith, C, 250, 41, $30,275.
4. (7) Ky. Busch, T, 250, 0, $21,525.
5. (15) T. Bayne, F, 250, 39, $24,600.
6. (5) S. Hornish Jr., F, 250, 38, $22,650.
7. (9) B. Vickers, T, 250, 37, $22,335.
8. (17) E. Sadler, T, 250, 36, $23,095.
9. (26) R. Reed, F, 250, 35, $21,850.
10. (14) J. McMurray, C, 250, 0, $16,850.
11. (13) J. Allgaier, C, 250, 33, $21,550.
12. (3) A. Dillon, C, 250, 32, $21,475.
13. (11) M. Annett, F, 250, 31, $21,425.
14. (18) K. Larson, C, 250, 30, $22,375.
15. (6) A. Bowman, T, 250, 29, $22,275.
16. (19) T. Dillon, C, 250, 0, $21,475.
17. (10) K. Wallace, T, 250, 27, $15,175.
18. (23) M. Bliss, T, 250, 26, $21,125.
19. (25) J. Long, C, 250, 25, $21,075.
20. (22) T. Pastrana, F, 250, 24, $21,700.
21. (16) N. Piquet Jr., C, 250, 23, $20,975.
22. (20) J. Green, T, 250, 22, $20,850.
23. (27) L. Cassill, C, 249, 21, $20,765.
24. (31) M. Wallace, C, 248, 20, $20,650.
25. (29) J. Dick, C, 248, 19, $21,075.
26. (32) J. Clements, C, 247, 18, $20,500.
27. (34) R. Sorenson, C, 247, 17, $20,450.
28. (38) J. Earnhardt, F, 247, 16, $20,300.
29. (21) J. Nemechek, T, 247, 15, $20,250.
30. (30) H. Martin, T, 246, 14, $20,450.
31. (36) R. Ellis, T, 246, 13, $20,100.
32. (37) J. Gase, C, 246, 12, $20,030.
33. (35) R. Ehrgott, C, 245, 0, $13,960.
34. (39) R. Richardson Jr., C, 244, 10, $19,915.
35. (2) M. Kenseth, T, accident, 235, 0, $13,837.
36. (12) P. Kligerman, T, electrical, 210, 8, $18,880.
37. (28) M. DiBenedetto, D, brakes, 56, 0, $12,820.
38. (33) J. Wise, C, rear gear, 8, 6, $12,741.
39. (24) C. Miller, T, vibration, 5, 5, $12,620.
40. (40) J. Yeley, C, engine, 4, 0, $12,580.
Top 10 in Points: 1. S.Hornish Jr., 880; 2. A.Dillon, 864; 3. R.Smith, 854; 4. E.Sadler, 852; 5. J.Allgaier, 828; 6. B.Vickers, 827; 7. B.Scott, 819; 8. T.Bayne, 810; 9. K.Larson, 799; 10. P.Kligerman, 732.
Other - Motorsports
Matt Kenseth restored order to a chaotic week for NASCAR with a steely victory over teammate Kyle Busch in the opening race for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
Just when it appeared Kyle Busch couldn't be any stronger in a Nationwide Series race, he broke the record for most laps led on a 1.5-mile track in a Nationwide race in winning the Dollar General 300 race at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday.