Keselowski prevails in Nationwide race at Iowa

Newton, IA (SportsNetwork.com) - Brad Keselowski won a Nationwide Series race at Iowa Speedway for the third time after holding off Michael McDowell in a three-lap shootout to the finish in Saturday night's U.S. Cellular 250.

Keselowski, a Sprint Cup Series regular who is doing the Iowa/Pocono Raceway combo this weekend, put on a dominating performance in this race by leading 146 of 250 laps. It appeared that he was on his way to an easy victory at this 0.875-mile short track until James Buescher crashed on the frontstretch with nine laps to go, forcing the fifth and final caution.

During the caution, the field made a final round of pit stops. Keselowski came out of the pits first following a two-tire change, while Sam Hornish Jr. dropped from second to seventh in the field after he was the only frontrunner who made a four-tire change. McDowell entered pit road third but exited in second.

After the restart with three laps left, McDowell pulled ahead of Keselowski for the lead, but Keselowski managed to reclaim the top spot on that same lap when McDowell wiggled in turn 3.

Keselowski beat McDowell to the finish line by 0.9 seconds for his third win in seven Nationwide starts this season. It was also Keselowski's 30th career victory in the series.

"You can never take these races for granted," Keselowski said. "I feel a little lucky to win it. I didn't get through turn 1 very well on the [final] restart. Michael had me clear, and I just barely pulled a move around him in [turns] 3 and 4."

Keselowski won the inaugural Nationwide race at Iowa in August 2009. His second victory here came one year ago. He is now tied with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for most victories at this track with three each.

"This is probably the last time I come to Iowa, so it's good to leave here with a win," Keselowski said. "I really want to see [teammate] Ryan Blaney and other up-and-coming drivers be in this car. I know there's a lot of people that want to see Nationwide-only guys in this car, but circumstances didn't work out for that. I'm glad to be here and glad to support this [No. 22 Team Penske team]."

After taking the checkered flag here, Keselowski quickly flew back to Pennsylvania for Sunday's 400-mile Sprint Cup race at Pocono. He qualified third for that event.

McDowell, who drove the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing at Iowa, was attempting to win a Nationwide race for the first time in his career.

"I had a shot at it there, but I just got a little loose in [turn] 3, and Brad was able to get a good run," McDowell said. "I just couldn't hold on to the bottom there. It was so close."

Trevor Bayne, the pole sitter, placed third and collected a $100,000 bonus from series title sponsor Nationwide Insurance for being the highest finisher among the four drivers eligible for the fourth and final round of the "Dash 4 Cash" bonus program this season. A lucky race fan -- James Dennis of Henry, Illinois -- also received the same cash award since he was paired with Bayne for the bonus.

The other drivers eligible for the Dash 4 Cash at Iowa and their finishing positions were: rookie Ty Dillon (fifth), Regan Smith (sixth) and Brian Scott (seventh). Dillon won his first career Nationwide race one week ago at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"I really didn't want to see that caution at the end," Bayne said. "We weren't very good at the end. We were just too tight on the short run, but then I could start to gain some track position. The 2 [Scott] was battling me hard, and on that last restart, there were a lot of light blue spoilers sitting there for the Nationwide Insurance 'Dash 4 Cash'." I was able to get a really good restart. I just pushed the 20 [McDowell] with all I had, and he got to the lead there."

Hornish, who won the Nationwide race at Iowa in June, wound up placing fourth after he had led a total of 65 laps.

Rookie Chase Elliott finished eighth and remained atop the championship standings. Elliott holds just a two-point advantage over Smith, his teammate at JR Motorsports. Elliott Sadler is 12 points out of the lead following his 10th-place run. Dillon trails by 12 as well.