DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Brad Keselowski won his first race at Darlington in a very Darlington way.

Keselowski came out on top in the Xfinity race here Saturday after leaders Ross Chastain and Kevin Harvick wrecked 37 laps from the end in an incident where the 2014 NASCAR champion drove into Chastain’s pit stall to complain and then pointedly said his 25-year-old colleague was too inexperienced and wreckless to drive at this level.

Keselowski easily got around the wreck and could not be caught as he led the final 35 laps. Cole Custer was second and Tyler Reddick was third. Denny Hamlin, who was the race’s defending champion and won the pole for Sunday night’s Southern 500, was fourth.

“This is such a huge confidence booster,” Keselowski said.

Keselowski had a second and two thirds in 15 combined Xfinity and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Darlington.

Keselowski saw the two leaders tangle, went low and got through.

“You could see it coming,” Keselowski said. “I’m just glad we came out on top.”

Keselowski had passed Chastain with 44 laps to go, but Chastain quickly regained the lead and stayed there until the decisive wreck.

Chastain and Harvick were side by side in passing a lapped car 110 laps in when it appeared Harvick forced Chastain briefly into the wall. As Chastain moved down the track, he clipped Harvick’s rear and sent him spinning up the track. An angry Harvick went into the pits, stopping at Chastain’s stall to yell at his crew before moving behind the wall and out of the race.

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200 Results

The Associated Press

Saturday

At Darlington Raceway

Darlington, S.C.

Lap length: 1.366 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (9) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 147 laps, 0 rating, 0 points.

2. (6) Cole Custer, Ford, 147, 0, 39.

3. (3) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 147, 0, 47.

4. (5) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 147, 0, 0.

5. (8) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 147, 0, 39.

6. (38) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 147, 0, 0.

7. (10) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 147, 0, 43.

8. (16) Matt Tiff t, Chevrolet, 147, 0, 29.

9. (12) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 147, 0, 0.

10. (15) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 147, 0, 27.

11. (4) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 147, 0, 32.

12. (39) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 147, 0, 25.

13. (14) Ryan Reed, Ford, 147, 0, 24.

14. (21) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 147, 0, 23.

15. (13) Ryan Truex, Chevrolet, 147, 0, 22.

16. (17) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 147, 0, 21.

17. (23) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 147, 0, 20.

18. (24) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, 147, 0, 19.

19. (18) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 146, 0, 18.

20. (20) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 146, 0, 17.

21. (19) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 146, 0, 16.

22. (25) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, 146, 0, 15.

23. (29) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 146, 0, 14.

24. (32) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 145, 0, 0.

25. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 145, 0, 32.

26. (30) Bayley Currey, Toyota, 135, 0, 0.

27. (35) Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, 131, 0, 10.

28. (40) Josh Bilicki, Toyota, 128, 0, 9.

29. (7) Kevin Harvick, Ford, accident, 111, 0, 0.

30. (22) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, electrical, 99, 0, 7.

31. (31) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 95, 0, 6.

32. (37) Chad Finchum, Chevrolet, 90, 0, 5.

33. (34) Carl Long, Chevrolet, brakes, 67, 0, 4.

34. (2) Christopher Bell, Toyota, accident, 65, 0, 12.

35. (27) Timmy Hill, Toyota, vibration, 54, 0, 2.

36. (28) David Starr, Chevrolet, engine, 40, 0, 1.

37. (26) Vinnie Miller, Chevrolet, suspension, 32, 0, 1.

38. (33) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, handling, 24, 0, 1.

39. (36) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, transmission, 13, 0, 1.

40. (11) Austin Cindric, Ford, accident, 2, 0, 1.

SOUTHERN 500

DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Denny Hamlin is at it again at Darlington Raceway.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver who swept both the Xfinity and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races here a year ago got off to a strong start Saturday by winning the pole for the Southern 500. It’s the first time Hamlin’s won the pole here, but far from the first time he’s been on top.

Hamlin won his first Southern 500 in 2010. He’s finished in the top 10 in 10 of his 12 Cup starts at Darlington. Hamlin’s been even more dominant in Darlington’s Xfinity races, with five victories in his last eight starts.

In qualifying, Hamlin posted a fast lap of 173.571 mph to win his first Southern 500 pole, his third pole of the season and 29th of his NASCAR Cup career.

“We’ve done a great job with the car all weekend,” Hamlin said. “Pretty optimistic that we can continue to build momentum over the next two weeks.”

Kyle Larson will start alongside Hamlin in second with 2017 series champion Martin Truex Jr. third.

Alex Bowman, on NASCAR’s playoff bubble for the 16th and final playoff spot, is fourth with the racer right behind seeking the final berth, Ryan Newman, starting sixth. Series points leader Kyle Busch is fifth.