Keselowski led after a crucial pit cycle with about 35 laps remaining in the 400-mile race, and held on comfortably from there for his first victory in a Chase race. He also takes over the points lead. Kasey Kahne was third.
All 12 of the Chase drivers finished in the top 18, with the exception of Jeff Gordon, who went into the wall with about 80 laps remaining. Gordon barely qualified for the Chase to begin with, and his championship hopes are already in serious jeopardy.
It's Keselowski's fourth victory of the season. He leads Johnson by three points.
Newton leads Panthers past Saints
CHARLOTTE — Cam Newton threw for 253 yards and ran for a career-high 71 yards as the Carolina Panthers defeated New Orleans 35-27 on Sunday to hand the Saints their first 0-2 start since 2007.
One week after tying a franchise low with 10 yards rushing in a 16-10 loss to Tampa Bay, the Panthers rediscovered their running game against a porous Saints defense. The Panthers ran for 219 yards and Newton, DeAngelo Williams and Mike Tolbert all scored on short touchdown runs.
Steve Smith overcame a sore knee to finish with 104 yards receiving — the 39th 100-yard receiving game of his career — and Jonathan Stewart hauled in a 17-yard touchdown reception for the Panthers (1-1).
Drew Brees had won his previous five starts against Carolina. He threw for 325 yards but was intercepted twice, including once by Charles Godfrey, who returned it 9 yards for a touchdown.
Tide, Tigers back at No. 1, 2
Here we go again.
Alabama and LSU are Nos. 1 and 2. It's almost as if last season never ended. The Crimson Tide and Tigers held the top two spots for eight weeks in 2011 before finally playing a rematch of a regular-season game for the BCS title, which Alabama won.
The difference this year is Alabama is No. 1 and LSU is No. 2, instead of vice versa. Blame Southern California for the latest Southeastern Conference takeover. USC was preseason No. 1 in a close vote and slipped to No. 2 after Alabama throttled Michigan to start the season. Then on Saturday night, Stanford handed the Trojans their first loss, 21-14 on the Farm.
So we're back where we were last season, waiting for Alabama and LSU to play in the first weekend of November, and wondering if either will be upset along the way. It doesn't seem likely.
"We have really been fighting against allowing ourselves to accept average," Tide coach Nick Saban said after a 52-0 demolition of beleaguered Arkansas. The Tide faces Florida Atlantic and Mississippi over the next two weeks, and then takes a week off.
After that come road games at Missouri and Tennessee, followed by a visit from No. 23 Mississippi State on Oct. 27.
The big game in Baton Rouge, La., is on Nov. 3.
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