Keselowski dodges chaos to seal win
BRAD KESELOWSKI BOOKED HIS PLACE IN THE FINAL eight of the playoffs by winning at Talladega on his 300th NASCAR Cup Series start.
The Team Penske Ford driver had to dodge a series of crashes that brought out three red flags in the closing stages of the race, and Keselowski, who won the race’s first stage, was languishing at the rear of the field with just 29 laps remaining after he was forced to pit for a new radio antenna while running fourth. His problems with his radio had hampered his efforts to win stage two.
The three crashes – the first of which was a massive shunt caused by contact between David Ragan and Martin Truex Jr – eliminated 16 cars including playoff contenders Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. A clash between Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Trevor Bayne then stopped the race again, before Chase Elliott spinning Daniel Suarez around and taking out two others did likewise following just three more laps of clean racing.
That final interruption gave Keselowski the lead and he went on to beat Ryan Newman to the flag thanks to assistance from team-mate Logano during the three-lap shootout that ended the race. Polesitter Dale Earnhardt Jr, Newman and Denny Hamlin tailed Keselowski at the final restart and, while Newman and Hamlin worked in tandem to clear their rivals as Earnhardt and Keselowski split apart, Newman broke clear in his Childress Chevrolet. But, with help from Logano, Keselowski took the lead around the outside on the final lap to win. Bayne finished third ahead of Logano and Aric Almirola.
Truex, who suffered terminal damage in the 16-car crash, had already cemented his place in the round of eight of the playoffs with victory at Charlotte last weekend, and he continues to top the standings. With one race remaining in the round of 12, hopes of advancement for Kyle Busch, Stenhouse and Kenseth hang in the balance.
“That takes some stress off of me for next week,” Keselowski said on his cool-down lap. “I survived. What a special day. We were able to come here and get it done.”