Keselowski beat rain, wind, Kyle Busch to win 2016 Kobalt 400

There was earth. There was wind. There was nearly fire — there was a big crash in Turns 1 and 2 with 40 laps to go, but luckily nothing went up in flames during the 2016 running of the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

There was low downforce, too, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said, and so there was a lot of side-by-side racing and passing — a lot more than usual when the Cup Series stars and cars come to town.

It was actually a pretty good race when the wind didn’t blow.

Brad Keselowski was the winner, which came as a surprise to him.

When he left pit road on lap 180 and was ticketed for speeding, he thought his chance to overhaul hometown favorite Kyle Busch at the end was, like the conditions, dust in the wind.

But Keselowski came home first at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the second time in three years after overtaking Busch’s ill-handling car with five laps remaining.

He led a 1-2 Penske Racing sweep as teammate Joey Logano also was able to drive around Busch in the waning laps.

“It’s a great feeling — one of the best feelings,” said Keselowski, the 2012 Cup Series champion, after nailing down a spot in NASCAR’s postseason playoffs by virtue of the win. “It’s a feeling I live for, a feeling I dream about often.

“I didn’t think the weather was as big of a challenge as I thought it was going to be, specific to the wind.”

Jimmie Johnson, who almost always wins in Las Vegas, or so it seems, finished third after pacing a race-high 76 laps.

Busch, nursing handling problems at the end, settled for fourth after leading from lap 224 until Keselowski shot by him.

“When I focused in (on Busch) and saw how his car was sliding and the line he was running, I knew we could win the race,” brash Brad said after taking four fresh tires during his last pit stop instead of just two, as others in the lead pack did.

Kurt Busch started from the pole position and led 31 laps en route to finishing ninth.

There were 20 lead changes among 10 drivers and six caution flags for 36 laps. A dust storm that blew in toward the end extended a yellow flag period for a few laps.

Logano flashed a toothy grin when asked about nearly getting blown to Mesquite during driver introductions. The start was delayed 40 minutes by rain and wind gusts that reached 50 mph.

“I guess that’s the wild, wild West, right?” said the driver of the bright yellow Pennzoil Ford. “It was dusty, rainy, windy, crazy. It made for a great race.”