[media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”225″]
[/media-credit]Brad Keselowski won the opening race for the chase at the Chicagoland Speedway. Keselowski held off Jimmie Johnson during the final 35 laps and captured his fourth win of the season, eighth of his career and his first at Chicagoland.
“The Miller Lite Dodge today was great. It seemed like this race was about 20 laps longer than I wanted it to be but either way, it worked out and we got us some Miller Time here. We’re in victory lane race one in the Chase. It feels like round one of a heavyweight title bout. You know it’s good to win it, it feels great, but there are a lot of rounds left. It’s a good start but a long ways to go.” Keselowski said.
Keselowski also took over the series points lead by three over Johnson.
Jeff Gordon entered Chicagoland Speedway with high hopes after overcoming a 12 point deficit to Kyle Busch at Richmond for the final spot in the chase. On lap 188 while running fourth, had his throttle stick while entering turn 1. Gordon had heavy right side damage and took it to the garage for repairs. Gordon finished 35th and now remains 12th in the series standings, 47 points out.
Matt Kenseth also had trouble on lap 169. A right front shock fell off and he fell back to 24th place. He was able to pit and make repairs on lap 191 and salvaged a 18th place finish.
The other chase contenders finished as follows:
Johnson 2nd, Kasey Kahne 3rd, Tony Stewart 6th, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 8th, Martin Truex Jr.9th, Clint Bowyer 10th, Kevin Harvick 12th, Greg Biffle 13th and Denny Hamlin 16th.
Official Chase Standings/Stats
After race 1 of 10
GEICO 400, Chicagoland Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/chase.php
| Pos. | Driver | (+/-) | Top-5 | Top-10 | Bon. | Avg St | Ave Fin | Laps | Ttl Laps | Points | Bnd |
| 1 | Brad Keselowski | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 267 | 267 | 2056 | 0 |
| 2 | Jimmie Johnson | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 267 | 267 | 2053 | -3 |
| 3 | Tony Stewart | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 29 | 6 | 267 | 267 | 2048 | -8 |
| 4 | Denny Hamlin | -3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 16 | 267 | 267 | 2041 | -15 |
| 5 | Kasey Kahne | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 267 | 267 | 2041 | -15 |
| 6 | Clint Bowyer | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 267 | 267 | 2041 | -15 |
| 7 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 267 | 267 | 2039 | -17 |
| 8 | Greg Biffle | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 13 | 267 | 267 | 2037 | -19 |
| 9 | Martin Truex Jr. | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 9 | 267 | 267 | 2035 | -21 |
| 10 | Kevin Harvick | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 12 | 267 | 267 | 2032 | -24 |
| 11 | Matt Kenseth | -3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 266 | 267 | 2030 | -26 |
| 12 | Jeff Gordon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 35 | 190 | 267 | 2009 | -47 |
*Note: These stats consist of only the final 10 chase races. (http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/chase.php)
Biggest loser after race 1: Jeff Gordon. Gordon lost another 35 points to the leader and is now 47 points out.
Biggest gainer after race 1: Keselowski was three points out of the lead and now holds a three point advantage.
Biggest movers after race 1 (+/-): +Kasey Kahne moved up five positions. -Hamlin, Biffle and Kenseth all lost three positions.
