LOUDON, N.H.
Brad Keselowski used a broom to sweep away a mess and wanted a pot for his victory lobster.
But for his first piece of housekeeping, all he needed was a fast car.
Keselowski completed a flawless weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and won Sunday under a green-white checkered finish. Keselowski followed up Saturday’s Nationwide Series victory with his first Sprint Cup win at New Hampshire, dominating in the No. 2 Ford for his third victory of the season.
The 2012 Sprint Cup champion is now tied with Jimmie Johnson for the series lead in wins.
“This was just such a phenomenal weekend and these don’t happen that often,” he said.
Keselowski had been in a slump with, of all things, his Victory Lane fun.
He needed four stitches to close a wound he received during his Victory Lane celebration in the Sprint Cup race at Kentucky. He tried to open the bottle of champagne by hitting it against a podium, and the bottle broke and cut his hand.
Keselowski dropped the American flag out of his No. 22 Ford on Saturday and it was retrieved by an official to let the frivolity continue.
He joked he brought Kevlar-reinforced gloves that were touted as cutproof.
Good thing. The New Hampshire winner traditionally receives a live lobster in Victory Lane. He also grabbed an oversized broom to give a playful sweep of all the confetti already collected around his Ford.
Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. clinched spots in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, provided they attempt to qualify for the final seven races before the cutoff.
Pole sitter Kyle Busch was second. Kyle Larson, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman completed the top five.
Keselowski led 138 of 305 laps (four more than the scheduled 301) and helped Ford to its fourth straight win.
Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top 10.
SENIOR MOMENT: Morgan Shepherd’s senior status has become an ageold problem in NASCAR. Just how much longer can the 72-year-old driver race? Considerably older and slower than any driver on the track, the 72- year-old Shepherd took out contender Joey Logano in the second half the race. Shepherd’s No. 33 Chevrolet was about 15 laps off the pace when he connected with Logano. Logano was running second with less than 100 laps left when he got tangled up with Shepherd and they crashed. Logano was forced to the garage. Shepherd completed 278 of the 305 laps and was 39th.
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