Keselowski Finally Hits Big in Vegas

Brad Keselowski spent almost a full year winless and watching while Team Penske teammate Joey Logano went to Victory Lane five times.

Keselowski had to drive through wind, rain, sand and Logano himself to finally hit it big in Vegas again.

Keselowski passed Kyle Busch with five laps to go Sunday and surged to his second win in three years in the NASCAR race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway under weird and windy weather conditions.

After getting past Logano and tracking down Busch, who had a right front wheel vibration and struggled down the stretch, Keselowski drove his Ford to his first Sprint Cup Series victory since Fontana in March 2015.

"For Team Penske, it's our 50th anniversary," Keselowski said. "To get the first win of the year, it feels real good."

Keselowski had to gamble on fuel late, and he thought he had blown the race earlier with a speeding penalty. The risks paid off for the 2012 series champion, who said he hadn't been dwelling on his winless skid over the past year.

"It's hard to believe it's been 34 races," Keselowski said. "We've led a lot of races in that time span, probably deserved to win a few more races than that. ... There was a lot of misfortune, and then there was a lot of self-inflicted things that I could have done better and beyond. But I can't sit here and dwell on that."

Logano finished second, and Jimmie Johnson came in third in the opener of NASCAR's three-week Southwest swing. Busch finished fourth, falling a few laps shy of completing a weekend sweep after dominating the Xfinity Series race Saturday.

Keselowski and Logano fought tenaciously for position, but they emerged from the duel smiling.