CONCORD, N.C. — Audio and recap by Managing Editor Jacob Seelman for Speed77 Radio and Race Chaser Online — Chris Trotman/NASCAR via Getty Images photo — Brad Keselowski didn’t have the best car all night, he just had the best car when it counted.

Keselowski blew by teammate Ryan Blaney on lap 187 of Friday night’s Drive for the Cure 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and held off a last-gasp drive by series rival Kyle Busch to score the victory by 0.377 seconds, tying NASCAR Hall of Famer Jack Ingram for fifth on the all-time series win list with his 31st career NASCAR Nationwide Series victory, third at Charlotte and fourth of the season.

Keselowski rebounded after tagging the wall on lap 56, taking four tires on the final pit stop while his nearest competitors late only took two.

“It was a night of adversity; it didn’t fall how we thought it would but we thought it would race really well, and it did before we lost that tire and hit the wall,” Keselowski said after the race. “Hats off to Jeremy Bullins and the crew for getting us back on sequence, getting our laps back and getting us on level tires with the rest of the field. Once that happened it was in my hands and I just took it to the front and we were able to make it happen.”

“Ryan did a hell of a job tonight,” Keselowski added. “He’s had some really big hurdles — it’s never easy to come into a series part-time and do what he’s doing — but he’s earning every opportunity he’s gotten and I think it’s going to pay off for him real soon.”

Keselowski now has an average finish of 1.9 across nine Nationwide starts this season, best among all drivers with five or more starts.

Kyle Busch held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth for second in a drag race at the line, claiming the runner up position by 0.022 seconds at the stripe.

“(Brad) was just faster than us tonight,” Busch admitted. “I knew that with about 60 to go that we had a tire advantage over them and that was going to be the way for us to win the race. But, bizarre debris cautions always ruin those things for you. It’s a shame. I don’t feel bad for us and the team, I feel bad for the Breast Cancer Champions that were here with us tonight and that we couldn’t do it for them.”

Keselowski’s Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney, who led for 14 laps in the closing stages, faded to fourth at the checkered flag.

“It was a great night for us,” Blaney said of his effort. “This just being a one-off deal team with Greg Erwin and getting a bunch of guys together at the race shop to come to the race track it’s pretty neat to see the hard work they put in pay off.”

“The first couple of laps I thought, ‘If it stays green we can do this’,” Blaney added, “because they weren’t really gaining on us, but I knew it was going to be tough to hold Brad off and there at the end I just kept getting tighter and tighter there. All in all though, like I said, it’s a great night and we’ll be back in the car at Texas.”

Kyle Larson rounded out the top five.

Chris Buescher was the highest finishing rookie in sixth, followed by Trevor Bayne. Championship points leader Chase Elliott finished eighth after leading the most laps (66) and using alternate pit strategy aand extended his points lead to 42 markers over Regan Smith, who came home 11th. Elliott Sadler and Brian Scott rounded out the top ten.

Alex Bowman was strong in his debut for JR Motorsports early, but faded to twelfth at the checkered flag.

It was a chaotic night, with several multi-car or extremely hard hits over the course of the event. The carnage began on the opening lap when the 28 of JJ Yeley was turned into traffic after a check-up at the front of the field. In all, 11 cars were torn up in that one, including young guns Dylan Kwasniewski and Corey Lajoie. Fellow young gun Cale Conley had a right front tire problem at lap 18 and smacked the wall, bringing out a second early caution.

The race’s game-changing (and championship-altering) incident occurred at lap 76 when Ty Dillon attempted to make a four-wide pass on the frontstretch and came together with Eric McClure, sparking a six-car pileup that also collected James Buescher, Jeremy Clements, Carlos Contreras and Conley. The crash drew a seven-minute red flag for cleanup.

Ty Dillon was ultimately scored 30th at the checkered flag and now falls to fifth in points, 64 behind championship leader Chase Elliott. His night first soured after tagging the wall on the way to pit road at lap 60.

“I was just trying to be aggressive; that’s who I am as a driver,” Dillon said following the crash. “We had an awesome car tonight. I hate that we got tore up, but sometimes the slow traffic around you just puts things out of your control. We’re just gonna try to go for wins from here on out and see what happens.”

Corey Lajoie also took a major hit to the inside wall with 23 laps to go in a skirmish that saw the No. 80 of Ross Chastain and Brendan Gaughan, who was able to save his car and bring it to pit road with a tire problem, undamaged despite being tagged in the melee. That crash set up the race’s final restart at lap 182 and created the decisive Penske battle for the win.

In all, the race was slowed by eight cautions for 42 laps and saw 13 lead changes among seven different drivers.

Despite Team Penske’s recent dominance, however, Keselowski says the organization cannot afford to rest on its laurels or get complacent.

“Feels good, it’s certainly a confidence and morale booster that makes you think you have a little more control, but we still have to execute. Once that green flag drops I still have to go out and drive; the team still has to execute and make the right calls — we can’t get caught up in the good that’s happening now, we have to keep pushing forward.”

The NASCAR Nationwide Series takes two weeks off now before returning to the track on November 1st at Texas Motor Speedway.

Audio with Joey Gase post-race:

Audio with Ty Dillon post-race:

Audio with Cale Conley post-race: