DOVER, Del. (AP) " Brad Keselowski found the emotional boost he needed in his first Nationwide Series victory of the year.
A day after he failed to qualify for the Sprint Cup race, Keselowski shot past Kyle Busch and Joey Logano during a restart with two laps left to win at Dover International Speedway on Saturday.
Keselowski led only one lap in his first career Cup win at Talladega in April, giving him three laps led total in his two NASCAR victories this season.
"That's awesome. I like that stat," he said.
He enjoyed the finish and surely lifted the spirits of the JR Motorsports team. Co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. was one of the first people to congratulate Keselowski. Earnhardt had a draining week when his cousin and crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., was removed by Hendrick Motorsports because of a slow start this season.
Eury Sr. is Keselowski's crew chief, and he defended his beleaguered son. He told his son to catch his breath, go to work in his Hendrick Motorsports research and development role, and then consider his options at the end of the year.
"He's beat himself to death," Eury said. "He was taking it for a long time. Then it started getting to him. When it started getting to him, he took it real bad."
Eury Sr. considers Earnhardt like a son, but wondered if the scrutiny was too much for the pair to successfully work together.
"I wish the best for both of them, but honestly, I think they'd be better off apart," Eury said. "It's not going to take much to fix that 88 car. They're only off a little bit, but that little bit has them running 25th every week. I guarantee you it won't take much to bring them back."
Earnhardt could use some of the breaks that came Keselowski's way.
Busch led the field to the green, only for Logano to ride his bumper almost immediately. Logano nudged his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate from behind, pushing both cars up the track. Busch also ran into a right front tire issue as he was approaching the green.
Keselowski had the gap he needed and dipped under them to take the lead.
"I was there and ready for it, and that's all you can do," he said.
Logano was second on the first anniversary of his Nationwide debut. He took the blame for pushing Busch too hard.
"I was trying to stay right up on him," he said. "I was going to stay with him through the first corner. I got right up on his bumper. I got in the back of him. Completely my fault."
Clint Bowyer, Brian Vickers and Carl Edwards rounded out the top five.
Busch ended up 17th after leading the most laps (108) for the fifth straight race. He has only one win over that span.
"It wasn't Joey's fault, it was just one of those things where everything lined up and turned into a bad deal all in a split second," said Jason Ratcliff, Busch's crew chief.
Busch immediately parked his car and immediately took off to prepare for Saturday night's trucks race.
Fourth-generation Earnhardt driver Jeffrey Earnhardt failed to qualify for what he was hoping would be his debut race in the Nationwide Series. He was the lone driver who did not crack the 43-car field.
Keselowski knows the feeling after he couldn't get up to speed Friday on the concrete track. He was working with Lance McGrew, who shifted over to Earnhardt's Cup team to prepare for next week's start of his interim crew chief's role on the No. 88. Keselowski wasn't sure went wrong on Friday.
"It sure wasn't much fun, I can tell you that," he said. "It's a lot to ask for a part-time team to be competitive."