Image by Bristol Motor Speedway & Dragway via FlickrKevin Harvick held off a hard-charging Brad Keselowski to pick up the victory in Friday night's Nationwide Series race at Richmond, the Virginia 529 College Savings 250. It was Harvick's third Nationwide win of the year and the 37th of his career, third all time in the series. It was Harvick's fifth Nationwide win at Richmond, tying him with Mark Martin for most series wins at the track.It was an impressive performance by Harvick and Keselowski, the series points leader, in the third race in the new Nationwide car. Harvick led a race-high 170 laps. Keselowski fell two laps down around the midpoint of the race due to problems on pit road, but rallied to take the lead from Kyle Busch on Lap 163 (of 250). Harvick took the lead from Keselowski on Lap 197, and held him off the rest of the way. It was a close thing though. Lapped traffic allowed Keselowski to close in on Harvick in the final laps and challenge him for the win. Harvick slapped the wall on the next-to-last lap, but managed to hang on and cross the finish line 0.256 seconds ahead of Keselowski.
Trevor Bayne finished third, tying a career best in the series. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fourth, followed by Reed Sorenson. (Race results)
Kyle Busch was going for a record 11th Nationwide Series win of the season, but had problems on a pit stop on Lap 205. The nozzle broke off on one of the gas cans and Busch drove away with it still stuck in the car. Penalized for taking equipment from the pits, Busch restarted 21st, but rallied to finish ninth.
Keselowski increased his lead in the Nationwide point standings to 373 over Carl Edwards, who finished tenth.
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