NASCAR Nationwide Series
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NNS: Keselowski Wins On Last Lap
NNS points leader Brad Keselowski won his sixth race of the season Saturday...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted October 23, 2010   Madison, IL
Brad Keselowski celebrates in victory lane after winning NASCAR Nationwide Series Gateway 250 at Gateway International Raceway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
NASCAR Nationwide Series points leader Brad Keselowski passed Mike Bliss on the 200th and final lap to win Saturday's 5-hour Energy 250 at Gateway International Raceway.

Keselowski’s teammate, Justin Allgaier, finished third, as Saturday’s race was pretty much all Penske, all afternoon long, with the two drivers combining to lead 171 laps. Jason Leffler and Carl Edwards completed the top five.

The second five consisted of Reed Sorenson, Josh Wise, Brad Coleman, Paul Menard and Jeremy Clements.

The victory was the sixth of the season for Keselowski. “I knew it was going to be close,” said Keselowski. “When Bliss got the lead, I thought he was going to be gone.”

Allgaier started from the pole and led 70 of the first 77 laps, surrendering the lead twice on pit road with slow stops from his Penske Racing crew.

The race was red-flagged just past the midpoint on Lap 104 after a massive 10-car crash on the frontstretch that began when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Scott Wimmer went around in Turn 4.

After the red flag, Bliss took the lead until Lap 113, when Keselowski went back out front. Four laps later Allgaier took over second, dropping Bliss to third.

After green-flag pit stops cycled through, Keselowski had the lead, but Allgaier dove under his teammate in Turn 1 on Lap 175 to take the lead.

He appeared headed to an easy victory until Steve Wallace wrecked Danica Patrick with 12 laps to go to bring out a caution.

The leaders came down pit road for tires, but Sorenson and Wise stayed out to take the lead, with Bliss and Leffler taking two tires. Keselowski was fifth on the restart, the first car on four fresh tires. He was followed by Edwards and Allgaier.

The green flag came out on Lap 196, with Bliss taking the lead on Lap 199. On the final lap, Keselowski went high into Turn 1 and took the lead, holding on for the victory over Bliss and Allgaier.

Today’s race was No. 32 of 35 on the 2010 Nationwide schedule. It is also the last stand-alone Nationwide race of the season. Next week is the final off week of the year, before closing with races at Texas, Phoenix and Miami.

Unofficially, Keselowski leads Edwards by 485 points. If Keselowski leaves today’s race with a lead of 390 points or more, he will clinch his first NNS championship and the first NASCAR title of any kind for team owner Roger Penkse.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

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