INDIANAPOLIS — After three straight days of inclement weather kept NASCAR off the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the rain finally relented long enough to allow for the 25th running of the Brickyard 400.
In front of a sparse crowd of around 10,000 fans after Sunday’s postponement, Brad Keselowski charged past Denny Hamlin Monday on a late restart to cross the yard of bricks first to earn his second win in two weeks and first in one of NASCAR’s premier races. He also won last weekend’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Keselowski’s victory in the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard gives team owner Roger Penske, who has celebrated 17 Indianapolis 500 wins, his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win at the legendary race track. Penske can also claim additonal bragging rights after sweeping both races this year, following Will Power’s win in the 102nd Indy 500.
"To get Roger Penske his first Cup car win here at The Brickyard is just an incredible feeling," Keselowski said in victory lane. "I'm so happy for everybody at Team Penske."
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For Keselowski, while it was his first Brickyard 400 win, it was his second victory at IMS. The Penske driver won the Xfinity Series race here in 2012.
Penske was in Indianapolis through Sunday but did not stay Monday when the race was postponed. Keselowski said Penske was on a "secret mission." It was Team Penske's 499th race victory.
Keselowski took advantage of fresher tires on a restart with three laps remaining to chase down Hamlin. The two banged doors as they motored around the backstretch before Keselowski was able shoot past the Joe Gibbs Racing driver on the front straightaway.
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