Keselowski Edges Busch In Stage 2 At Richmond

Brad Keselowski won the second stage of Friday’s Virginia 529 College Savings 250. (Sarah Crabill/Getty Images for NASCAR photo)

RICHMOND, Va. — Brad Keselowski made a final lap pass of Kyle Busch to capture the second stage of Friday night’s Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond Raceway.

Though Busch drove around the outside of rookie Daniel Hemric on lap 98 and led 52 consecutive laps in the stage, Keselowski ran him down and got to Busch’s inside on the last lap before the stage break, completing the pass of Turn 4 and edging out Busch by .401 of a second at the green-checkered flag.

“He’s got a lot of speed on the short runs,” Keselowski said of Busch. “But at the end, I don’t know if it’s his car or what … but his rear tires fall off and we’re able to keep up with him on the long runs. It’s really about long run over short run here. If we get a long run to end the race, I think we can take him, but if we get a short run race I think I’m going to need a little help.”

“It just got too tight at the end,” Busch said over the radio after the end of the stage as to why he began to fade.

The stage ran caution-free following the race resumption on lap 86, with Brendan Gaughan having stayed out to lead the field back to green alongside teammate Hemric, but having 20-lap older tires as a result.

That meant that Gaughan dropped like a rock as the field came back to green, falling from first to 10th as Hemric led.

Hemric held the point position until Busch got around him 12 laps later, with Busch running away before Keselowski’s eleventh-hour maneuver to capture his eighth stage win of the season.

Hemric held on for third ahead of Richard Childress Racing teammate Ty Dillon, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. crossing the line in fifth.

Justin Allgaier, Elliott Sadler, Paul Menard, William Byron and Christopher Bell completed the points-scoring drivers in top 10 at the second stage break.

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Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.

Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.

The 23-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.

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