Then he safely and strategically bumped his way into the lead and sped to the finish line.
One year after settling for second in a chaotic, crash-marred race last year, Keselowski redeemed himself by earning his second straight major win and finally giving team owner Roger Penske the elusive Brickyard win.
The 2010 Cup champion got past race leader Denny Hamlin on the second-to-last lap and beat Erik Jones to the finish line by 0.904 seconds. Hamlin finished third.
“Last year, I lost this race almost the exact same way. To bring it home this way, after messing up last year, is just incredible,” Keselowski said.