The Hendrick Motorsports driver won under caution in the race that took more than six hours to complete, finally finishing in fading light after 167 laps and double overtime.
It was a wild day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. — driving the two fastest cars — going out in a crash with 49 laps to go.
Busch looked as if he would make history as the first driver to win three consecutive Brickyards when he led the first 71 laps — and 87 overall.
But when Truex’s car slid up the track, both cars hit the wall.
Things went awry once more when Jimmie Johnson, Keselowski and Kahne tried to go three-wide through the third turn on what was supposed to be the second-to-last lap.
"I wouldn’t call it an absurdity, I just think it was a crazy race," Keselowski said.
And after Trevor Bayne’s car got sideways with two laps left in the first overtime, another red flag came out and another overtime began.
With the sun setting and no lights at the track, Kahne barely made it to the overtime line as another multi-car pileup occurred behind him to bring out the last of the 14 cautions to seal the win.
None seemed like they would be bigger than the one that took out the two race leaders, Truex and Kyle Busch.
"That’s the way it goes," Busch said.