Late-lap mayhem
Another victory falls into Keselowski’s lap in final moments
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Brad Keselowski inherited his second win of the season when Chase Elliott and Joey Logano collided as they raced for the victory Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Keselowski was in third with a lap and a turn remaining when he lucked into his second victory in three Cup races. Logano had cleared Elliott for the lead with three laps remaining, but Elliott was stalking him while seeking his second win in three days.
They made contact in the fourth turn and drifted into the wall as Keselowski slid past with a lap remaining. He had just one trip around the .533-mile concrete bullring to close the victory.
Keselowski, in a contract year with Team Penske, got his first victory of the season last Sunday in the Coca-Cola 600. Elliott was roughly two laps away from the win when a caution flew and Keselowski inherited the lead when Elliott pitted.
Keselowski held on for that victory at Elliott’s expense and now is the first driver to win multiple races in the five Cup events since NASCAR resumed May 17.
“There’s so much going on in the world, I am just thankful I get to be a race car driver and do this,” Keselowski said after giving Ford its third win in five races.
Logano finished 21st and Elliott was 22nd. Logano stared Elliott down as the two climbed from their cars but Elliott never looked in his direction. After Logano had retrieved his mandatory face mask, he approached Elliott for a brief conversation.
“He wrecked me,” Logano said. “A simple apology … be a man and say, ‘My bad.’ I had to force an apology, which to me is just
childish.”
Elliott did take the blame after the talk.
“Awww, just going for the win,“Elliott said. “I’ll certainly take the blame. I just got loose and got into him.”
Clint Bowyer was second for his best finish in a year and a 1-2 finish for Ford, while Jimmie Johnson was third in a Chevrolet. Kyle Busch and Erik Jones rounded out the top-five in a pair of Toyota’s for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Ryan Blaney had a strong car early and led 60 laps but crashed while chasing teammate Keselowski for the lead in the second stage. Blaney seemed to get too high on the track, wiggled into the wall and then was hit by Ty Dillon.
Blaney went to Bristol coming off back-to-back third-place finishes but wound up last.
“I didn’t think I was that high and all of a sudden I hit a slick spot,” Blaney said. “I thought we were going to be OK and then we got destroyed about six seconds later. That’s just Bristol.”
It was another rough race for Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who rebounded from three poor finishes with a fourth-place Thursday night at Charlotte. He was running decently near the end of the stage until contact from Johnson triggered a multi-car accident and knocked four drivers, Stenhouse included, out of the race.
“We just got crashed,” said Stenhouse, who wrecked on the first lap of NASCAR’s first race back. “It was a bummer. I felt like we had a really good shot at racing them for the win.” from those walking up the stairs. Fans will be given an entrance time to prevent crowding at the gates. Lines at restrooms and concessions will be limited. Congregating in the corridors will no longer be allowed.
The college football season is still some three months away, yet Iowa State anticipates capacity at Jack Trice Stadium will be cut in half based on “current guidelines established by state and local officials“— roughly the number of fans that have purchased season tickets. At Kansas, athletic director Jeff Long said the Jayhawks have planned for some 16,000 fans in Memorial Stadium this fall — about a
NASCAR Cup Series
Sunday at Bristol, Tenn.
Lap length: 0.53 miles
Post position in parentheses
Key: C-Chevrolet; F-Ford; T-Toyota. third of official capacity.
Several NFL teams, including Miami and New Orleans, are modeling for reduced capacities this season. It will no doubt look different for fans in the stadium, not to mention the millions that will tune in on TV.
“There’s the old saying, ‘Necessity is the mother of invention.’ I would say we’re in a heightened situation of necessity right now,” Appleman said. “There are a lot of really smart people coming up with really cool initiatives that could just be a new way of doing things, and new isn’t always bad. Sometimes change is good. Sometimes we have to adapt.”