Keselowski Wins Third In A Row, First of the Playoffs

Brad Keselowski is on a roll.  He won his third straight race on Sunday including the first race of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Sunday's race went to overtime, a two-lap shootout to determine the winner and Keselowski took the lead early and never looked back.  He beat second place Kyle Larson to the checked flag by 1.276 seconds for his third victory at Vegas and the 27th of his career.  It also guarantees that he'll advance to the second round of the playoffs.

Martin Truex, Jr. came in third with Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney completing the Top 5.

A number of playoff drivers ended the day with an early exit because of crashes.  Kevin Harvick, who has a series-high 7 victories this year blew a tire, hit the wall and pole winner Erik Jones plowed into him.  Both cars were wrecked.

Other playoff drivers involved in crashes were Chase Elliott, Jamie McMurray, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Alex Bowman and Kurt Busch.

Race two in the 10-race playoffs is Saturday night at Richmond Raceway.