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Charlotte NASCAR: Keselowski wins 600-mile race from last, Johnson disqualified

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Brad Keselowski recovered from the back of the grid in the Charlotte 600-mile NASCAR Cup race to win, while second-placed Jimmie Johnson was disqualified post-race for a technical infringement.

A spin on lap 399 of a scheduled 400 for Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron brought out a caution, with Byron's team-mate, long-time leader Chase Elliott, opting to pit for fresh tyres for overtime, while the likes of Keselowski, Johnson and Ryan Blaney stayed out on 45-lap old tyres.

On the final restart, Keselowski and Johnson broke away, with the former's Ford Mustang - which was sent to the back of the pack following changes made after scrutineering before the race - looking comfortable in the lead, crossing the line 0.293 seconds clear of Johnson's Chevrolet Camaro to score his 31st Cup win.

Johnson fell narrowly short of ending his winless run which now stands at 102 races, but was later thrown out of the results when his #48 machine's rear alignment numbers were found to be off.

Elliott recovered to take third, having taken the lead of the race on lap 365 after fighting back from two unscheduled pitstops just after half-distance to fix spring issues on his Camaro, which dropped him from fifth to the rear of the field.

Blaney was an early mover, making up nine places in the first 10 laps of the race, which was suspended for just over an hour on lap 50 following a brief rain shower passing over the Charlotte circuit.

The Penske racer then drove a solid event to what became third, ahead of Kyle Busch, who also opted to pit with Elliott when the Byron caution came out.

The reigning Cup champion made it back to fourth, ahead of Stewart-Haas Racing's Kevin Harvick, who had an anonymous run to fifth in his #4 Mustang machine.

Martin Truex Jr looked like a contender to make it back-to-back wins in the Cup series' longest event, looking comfortable when he hit the front, although he did not feature much in the race after losing two positions during pitstops on lap 348 following a Joey Gase spin.

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Polesitter Kurt Busch was seventh for Chip Ganassi Racing, never really recovering from losing position soon after the race was resumed following the weather delay.

Xfinity series champion Tyler Reddick continued his good form with eighth, following on from a career-best seventh in the first Darlington race, while fellow rookie Christopher Bell finished ninth.

Having qualified fourth, Matt Kenseth endured a tricky afternoon, with a spin on lap 275 condemning him to the lower order and an eventual 26th-place finish, while stage three winner Joey Logano slipped to 13th for Penske, after he too decided to pit under the late Byron caution.

Alex Bowman looked serene in the lead of the race, controlling his pace expertly ahead of renowned 1.5-mile circuit driver Truex, until he started to struggle with his tyres and slow pit-work under the Gase caution cost him five places.

The #88 Hendrick driver secured victories in stages one and two, but slipped to what became 19th at the flag.

JGR's Denny Hamlin's race was over before it started as, at least two pieces of tungsten ballast fell out of his #11 Camry on the formation laps to the grid.

He was hauled into the pits by NASCAR officials, as the team worked to rectify the problem and restore ballast to the Toyota.

Hamlin lost eight laps in the pits and did not feature in the race, climbing to 29th at the flag, albeit still seven laps behind winner Keselowski.

If NASCAR opts to enforce the rulebook on the #11 car, Hamlin's crew chief, car chief and head engineer will be suspended for four races, meaning they will not be able to return until Homestead on 14 June.

Byron will start from pole for the second Charlotte race on Wednesday as the top 20 finishers will be reversed.

Results

PosDriverTeamGap
1Brad KeselowskiTeam Penske4h29m55.s
2Chase ElliottHendrick Motorsports0.674s
3Ryan BlaneyTeam Penske1.218s
4Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs Racing1.465s
5Kevin HarvickStewart-Haas Racing1.625s
6Martin Truex Jr.Joe Gibbs Racing1.817s
7Kurt BuschChip Ganassi Racing1.823s
8Tyler ReddickRichard Childress Racing1.894s
9Christopher BellLeavine Family Racing2.272s
10Chris BuescherRoush Fenway Racing2.402s
11Erik JonesJoe Gibbs Racing2.403s
12Cole CusterStewart-Haas Racing2.821s
13Joey LoganoTeam Penske3.023s
14Austin DillonRichard Childress Racing3.217s
15Aric AlmirolaStewart-Haas Racing3.492s
16John Hunter NemechekFront Row Motorsports3.558s
17Matt DiBenedettoWood Brothers Racing3.869s
18Michael McDowellFront Row Motorsports3.908s
19Alex BowmanHendrick Motorsports3.939s
20William ByronHendrick Motorsports1 Lap
21Ross ChastainSpire Motorsports2 Laps
22Ryan PreeceJTG Daugherty Racing2 Laps
23Corey LaJoieGo FAS Racing2 Laps
24Ricky Stenhouse Jr.JTG Daugherty Racing3 Laps
25Ty DillonGermain Racing4 Laps
26Matt KensethChip Ganassi Racing4 Laps
27Ryan NewmanRoush Fenway Racing5 Laps
28Daniel SuarezGaunt Brothers Racing6 Laps
29Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs Racing7 Laps
30Brennan PoolePremium Motorsports7 Laps
31Gray GauldingRick Ware Racing8 Laps
32B.J. McLeodBJ McLeod Motorsports12 Laps
33Garrett SmithleyRick Ware Racing14 Laps
34Timmy HillMBM Motorsports15 Laps
35Quin HouffStarCom Racing15 Laps
36Joey GasePetty Ware Racing20 Laps
37J.J. YeleyTommy Baldwin RacingAccident damage
38Darrell Wallace Jr.Richard Petty MotorsportsVibration
39Clint BowyerStewart-Haas RacingAccident
40Jimmie JohnsonHendrick Motorsports0.293s