Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
It’s all Keselowski at Martinsville
Penske driver’s 446 laps led are most in NASCAR since ’92
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Brad Keselowski gave Team Penske and the new Ford Mustang its third Cup victory through the first six races of the season by routing the field Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.
Keselowski led 446 of the 500 laps around the shortest track on the NASCAR schedule and was challenged just a few times by Chase Elliott, the only driver to pass Keselowski on the track.
Although Elliott led 49 laps, a late caution sent the field to pit road, and Keselowski beat Elliott back to the track. Elliott could never get close enough to challenge Keselowski again.
“The car was really good,” Keselowski said. “Just a great day for the team. Just one of those days you dream of as a driver, where you’ve got a great car.”
The 446 laps led is the most for a driver since Kyle Petty led 484 to win at Rockingham in 1992. It was the most laps Keselowski had ever led in a single race, passing the 312 at Texas Motor Speedway in 2015.
He credited the offseason work by Ford, which rolled out a new Cup car at the start of the season, and the Team Penske pit stops that got him off pit road first every time he came in for service.
“Ford worked really hard in the offseason to build these cars and make them real strong, and so far, so good,” Keselowski said. “It’s just a great day for our team, awesome execution on pit road. Those guys work really hard.”
Ford has three wins this season, all from Team Penske. Toyota won the other three races.
Martinsville, a paperclip-shaped track at 0.526 miles, typically forces drivers to gouge each other out of the way. The tight confines of the tiny Virginia track raise aggravation levels and usually lead to bumping, banging and busted-up cars.
But NASCAR’s new rules package, in its first stop at a short track, seemed to hamper drivers’ ability to close on the leader and limited passing opportunities.
The one time Keselowski was passed by Elliott, he studied Elliott’s lines and took notes for when he was back out front.
“He was certainly faster on that short run, and when he passed me I learned just enough,” Keselowski said. “The pit crew got me back in front of him on the next-to-last pit stop, and I (applied) the lessons.”
Elliott finished second in a Chevrolet from Hendrick Motorsports — the first topfive finish for a Hendrick driver this season.
Kyle Busch was third in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Penske driver Ryan Blaney finished fourth, while Gibbs driver and fivetime Martinsville winner Denny Hamlin was fifth.
Stewart-Haas Racing drivers Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer were sixth and seventh, Gibbs driver Martin Truex Jr. took eighth and SHR drivers Aric Almirola and Daniel Suarez completed the top 10.