Keselowski Beats Edwards at Michigan, Danica 27th

Brad Keselowski found a new way to avoid getting wrecked by Carl Edwards -- running away from him.

That's exactly what Keselowski did on the final restart with 10 laps to go in the Nationwide race at Michigan International Speedway Saturday.

Meanwhile, Danica Patrick struggled with a loose race car but finished the race in 27th place, four laps down.

Keselowski restarted the race in second, but leader Edwards chose the outside lane, and it was not the best choice. Keselowski ran hard and low into turn one on the inside, and by the time he emerged from turn two, he was well clear of his nemesis.

Two laps later, Keselowski was two-tenths of a second ahead, and he gradually stretched it out from there, beating Edwards by at least 30 car lengths.

"We just fought back from adversity with an awesome Dodge Challenger," Keselowski said in victory lane. "These new cars are sweet to drive and they're even better to drive when this Dodge Challenger is that fast."

Edwards held off a determined charged by Kyle Busch to take second. Justin Allgaier was fourth, followed by Paul Menard.

"We had that last caution and Brad was able to just launch out in front," Edwards said. "It became a battle for second."

Despite the well-publicized on-track encounters between Edwards and Keselowski earlier this year, there was no trouble between them Saturday.

"The good thing is that we are both on probation," Edwards said. "Both of us are probably thinking the same thing, 'Don't be the guy that messes this thing up.' He raced me very cleanly and I thought we raced well together. That is the kind of racing that I am sure we both want to be doing and I had a really good time.

Keselowski dominated the race, but he had clutch troubles that cost him time in the pits. He lost the top spot after a delay of a couple of seconds as he tried to get out of the pits after a green flag pit stop with 20 laps to go. By the time Keselowski got back out on the track, he was almost five seconds behind Edwards.

"I couldn't get out of the pit stall (after losing the clutch) and kept losing spots after that," Keselowski said.

But once the race resumed, Keselowski was making up the gap when the yellow flag came out with 15 laps to go, setting up the final showdown with Edwards on the restart.

"I knew I could get to him. I didn't think I could pass him.," Keselowski said. "The yellow certainly was helpful. We had a great car and this team really deserved to win the race."

Patrick's loose race car sent her reeling to the back. By lap 43 of the 125-lap race, she was three laps down, although she managed to get a bit better as the race went on.

"I guess I'm kinda glad I was just able to hang onto during the first part of the race," she said afterwards. "I just tip-toed around there. We were just so loose at the start, we just weren't able to stay up there. Needless to say, we're going to tighten it up for the next race. It was really loose."

It was Keselowski's fourth victory of the year in the Nationwide series and it gave him a 347-point edge over Edwards for the championship.

"I want to win races going for the championship," Keselowski said. "We just don't want to coast through it. We're pushing as hard as we can for all these people that are working their butts off at Penske Racing and for those fans that support us, especially here in Michigan; these are my guys. It's awesome to win in front of them."