Brad Keselowski won his second NASCAR Sprint Cup race in a row for Team Penske, and fourth of the year, at Kentucky in a tense final lap battle with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Carl Edwards.

The Kentucky Speedway event became a race against fuel after the penultimate caution on lap 172 of the 267. Keselowski, who remained up front for the majority of the race and led 75 laps, stayed out when other contenders began to systematically pit with less than 10 laps to go.

Edwards had been conserving fuel for the longest of all the leading drivers and closed the gap with two laps left. He threatened to steal the win when Keselowski thought he was out of fuel but the leader squeezed just enough out of the tank to get over the finish line. Ryan Newman brought his Childress Chevrolet in behind Edwards to finish third.

“We knew the fuel mileage,” Keselowski, who became the first driver to officially clinch a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, told the NASCAR Wire Service. “We went out and we set a really fast pace there on that restart and were just using fuel, and then it became obvious that you were going to have to save fuel at the end, but I already used so much.

“It’s a testament to our guys to have the fuel mileage that we did to be able to get back what I burnt early in the run and get the Miller Lite Ford in Victory Lane. Usually these repaves are kind of my Achilles heel, but to get a win here at Kentucky… I know it’s been a good track for us in the past, but this isn’t the same Kentucky, I can tell you that.

“These cars were tough to drive today, but a good tough. This was a hard-fought battle, and I’m really proud of everybody on the 2 crew to get win number four and take that first place.”

“I thought he was out of fuel coming off of (Turn) 4, but he actually did it very well,” Edwards said of Keselowski, who indicated on his radio with more than a lap left that he was out of fuel. “If he didn’t beat me, I’d be more impressed…

“I guess I’m impressed that he did beat me, but I don’t want to be. He waited. He basically shut the car off and went right off of 4 and matched it perfectly to where I couldn’t get by him down the front straightaway, and then he ran like heck through 1 and 2, and then I thought maybe he’ll run out down the back straight. Man, I dove it down in there trying to catch him into 3, and I couldn’t even get to him.”

Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. had the most eventful race of all after losing his consistently front-running position due to a penalty for speeding in the pitlane at the final caution. He dropped back from the lead to 22nd, but benefited from a full tank and new set of tires. Looking like a real threat for the win, he charged through the pack, making it as far as sixth place before his team cautiously pitted him and ended his race in 10th.

NASCAR veteran Tony Stewart, a recent winner at Sonoma, managed to take home fifth place in his 600th Cup start.

All drivers struggled with oversteering cars thanks to the low-downforce package in use on a newly resurfaced track that included increased banking on the first two turns. With 11 cautions, the race narrowly avoided setting a new record for most cautions at the track.

AJ Allmendinger will require precautionary x-rays after hitting the wall on lap 172, the JTG Daugherty driver having rejoined the race following extensive repairs after being caught up in the night’s biggest crash – a seven-car pile-up – 83 laps earlier.

CURRENT CHASE FIELD

On wins: Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart

On points: Chase Elliott, Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Austin Dillon, Jamie McMurray