Brad Keselowski dominates at Richmond for fourth win this year

RICHMOND, Va. — Brad Keselowski scored a dominant victory Saturday at Richmond International Raceway, winning a regular-season finale that was devoid of drama in setting the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle, both winless this season, claimed the final two spots on points in the 16-driver field for NASCAR's 10-race playoff.

Keselowski clinched the top seed in the Chase with his series-leading fourth victory, leading 383 of 400 laps to capture the Federated Auto Parts 400, which featured only four lead changes (all between Keselowski and Kevin Harvick).

"I think last year was a bit of a kick in the butt," said Keselowski, who missed the Chase last year after winning the title in 2012.

The 16-driver field is seeded as follows: Keselowski, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, Harvick, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, Aric Almirola, AJ Allmendinger, Matt Kenseth, Biffle and Newman.

"I've very proud of the win and what it means to the bigger picture ... being the No. 1 seed," Keselowski said.

Team owner Roger Penske, who earned his 400th win in major motor sports, said: "We've had some world-class drivers and certainly when I sit here with Brad and (crew chief) Paul Wolfe, it demonstrates how we are able to attract talent."

Penske got both of his drivers in the Chase -- Logano being the other -- and is coming off last weekend's IndyCar championship with Will Power.

The race's most dramatic moment occurred when the caution flew on Lap 330 for a fan who climbed to the top of the catchfence in the fourth turn.

Gordon finished second, followed by Clint Bowyer, who came up short in a long-shot bid to make the Chase with a win. Jamie McMurray and Harvick rounded out the top five.

Entering with a 23-point lead, Biffle needed a finish of 22^nd or better, and he flirted with falling outside the cutoff for much of the race but squeaked in with a 19th.

As Bowyer ran in the top five for virtually the entire event, Biffle started 17th and didn't crack the top 15. He fell a lap down shortly after the halfway point and outside the top 20 with 150 laps remaining.

"This is the toughest thing I've ever had to do in my life," Biffle said. "We just kept losing the handle and trying to adjust on it. It was all I could do to bring it home where I did."

Said Bowyer: "The frustration and disappointment was over after last week (when he had a poor finish at Atlanta). I knew coming in here it was a long shot. I raced as hard as I could. Right now, when we're at out best, we're behind to that 2 (Keselowski) and 24 (Gordon) and a few other ones. I have some work to do, but, hell, everybody does it looks to me like."

Tony Stewart finished 15th and failed to qualify for the Chase for the second consecutive year. Stewart had missed three races while grieving after striking and killing Kevin Ward Jr. with a sprint car in an Aug. 9 race in upstate New York. But he was granted a waiver by NASCAR and would have made the Chase with a win despite the absence.

He improved on a 41st-place finish in his return last week at Atlanta Motor Speedway, starting 19th and methodically working his way into the top 10 over the course of 300 laps. But his team missed a lugnut during a pit stop under yellow on Lap 335, and his No. 14 Chevrolet restarted in 16th as the last car on the lead lap.

The future is uncertain for Stewart, who remains under investigation in Ward's death by the Ontario County Sheriff. The investigation is expected to last at least another week.

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1. (1) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 400 laps, 149.8 rating, 48 points, $290,223.

2. (2) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 400, 123.3, 42, $209,561.

3. (6) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 400, 115.5, 41, $171,666.

4. (15) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 400, 111.6, 40, $161,214.

5. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 400, 118, 40, $160,633.

6. (5) Joey Logano, Ford, 400, 106, 38, $137,456.

7. (9) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 400, 103, 37, $96,915.

8. (3) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 400, 98.7, 36, $140,476.

9. (12) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 400, 101.5, 35, $97,815.

10. (26) Aric Almirola, Ford, 400, 79.1, 34, $132,451.

11. (8) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 400, 92, 33, $115,635.

12. (24) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 400, 90.1, 32, $94,540.

13. (18) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 400, 82.5, 31, $117,440.

14. (20) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 400, 85.9, 30, $128,581.

15. (19) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 400, 84.9, 29, $119,073.

16. (13) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 400, 75.5, 28, $90,565.

17. (21) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 399, 69.9, 27, $97,965.

18. (14) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 399, 69.9, 26, $109,329.

19. (17) Greg Biffle, Ford, 398, 75, 25, $122,865.

20. (28) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 398, 66.2, 24, $128,101.

21. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 398, 81.4, 23, $89,615.

22. (10) Carl Edwards, Ford, 396, 69.7, 22, $96,815.

23. (23) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 396, 62.3, 21, $99,298.

24. (32) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 396, 58.6, 20, $97,048.

25. (29) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 396, 53.4, 19, $108,548.

26. (7) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 396, 63, 18, $122,215.

27. (33) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 395, 51, 17, $106,510.

28. (27) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 395, 55.1, 16, $102,098.

29. (30) David Gilliland, Ford, 395, 54.1, 15, $99,473.

30. (35) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 394, 45.4, 14, $80,690.

31. (22) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 394, 49, 13, $94,112.

32. (36) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 394, 39.8, 12, $76,415.

33. (42) David Ragan, Ford, 394, 41.4, 11, $84,290.

34. (34) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 394, 42.5, 0, $76,165.

35. (39) Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, 394, 35.7, 0, $76,015.

36. (31) David Stremme, Chevrolet, 392, 39.1, 8, $75,860.

37. (40) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 392, 40.8, 7, $75,713.

38. (25) Alex Bowman, Toyota, 391, 32.8, 6, $70,705.

39. (37) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 391, 29.1, 5, $66,705.

40. (41) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 388, 26.5, 0, $70,705.

41. (16) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 330, 72, 3, $107,841.

42. (43) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 313, 27.7, 2, $54,705.

43. (38) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, brakes, 31, 26, 0, $51,205.

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Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 104.702 mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 51 minutes, 55 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 0.797 seconds.

Caution Flags: 4 for 27 laps.

Lead Changes: 4 among 2 drivers.

Lap Leaders: B.Keselowski 1-42; K.Harvick 43-52; B.Keselowski 53-119; K.Harvick 120-126; B.Keselowski 127-400.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): B.Keselowski, 3 times for 383 laps; K.Harvick, 2 times for 17 laps.

Wins: B.Keselowski, 4; D.Earnhardt Jr., 3; J.Gordon, 3; J.Johnson, 3; J.Logano, 3; C.Edwards, 2; K.Harvick, 2; A.Allmendinger, 1; A.Almirola, 1; Ku.Busch, 1; Ky.Busch, 1; D.Hamlin, 1; K.Kahne, 1.

Top 12 in Points: 1. B.Keselowski, 2,012; 2. J.Gordon, 2,009; 3. D.Earnhardt Jr., 2,009; 4. J.Johnson, 2,009; 5. J.Logano, 2,009; 6. K.Harvick, 2,006; 7. C.Edwards, 2,006; 8. Ky.Busch, 2,003; 9. D.Hamlin, 2,003; 10. Ku.Busch, 2,003; 11. K.Kahne, 2,003; 12. A.Almirola, 2,003.