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Keselowski holds off Elliott in dramatic finish at Martinsville
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Dawsonville native Chase Elliott at Atlanta Motor Speedway. - photo by Jessica Taylor
In the first short track race of the season for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Brad Keselowski led the field of the STP 500 for an incredible 446 of 500 total laps and still found himself hounded to the finish line by Chase Elliott in his NAPA clad No. 9 Chevy. Keselowski started the race from the third position, and it didn’t take him long to move to the front of the pack as he passed pole sitter Joey Logano on lap seven to begin the longest laps-led streak of his career, and the second longest streak since Richard Petty led 484 laps in his 1992 Rockingham win. Elliott qualified as the seventh driver on the day and, despite having what appeared to be the superior short track car, had some difficulty moving through the pack as the cars raced around the half-mile circuit. It was not until lap 325 that Elliott, the only driver to pass Keselowski on the day, was able to pull high around the outside and take the lead.