Keselowski prevails at sloppy Talladega

Driver gets latest win at track on a day when red flags rule the race.

Brad KesTALLADEGA, ALA. — elowski picked up the win he needed to continue his championship chances with a victory Sunday in a sloppy playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Keselowski passed Ryan Newman on the high side of the track to take the lead, then used a crossover move to hold off Newman and Team Penske teammate Joey Logano to secure the win. It gives him an automatic berth into the third round of the playoffs, and gave Ford a season sweep of the four restrictor-plate races.

This one was not NASCAR’s finest day. There were only 14 cars running at the conclusion, and only four were playoff drivers. The race was red-flagged three times for nearly 35 minutes.

It was Keselowski’s fifth career win at Talladega.

Truex lands sponsorship deal: Having the best team in NASCAR has paid off, finally, for Furniture Row Racing. The team on Sunday announced a full sponsorship package for Martin Truex Jr. in 2018 with Bass Pro Shops, 5-hour Energy and Auto Owners Insurance.

Since its inception, the team has primarily been funded out of team owner Barney Visser’s pocket. But Truex has been the most dominant driver this season and is the current favorite to win the Cup championship.

The new sponsorship consists of 16 races of funding from Bass Pro Shops and 14 races from 5-hour Energy. Auto Owners Insurance picked up the remaining six races. As part of the deal, Bass Pro Shops and 5-hour Energy also are forming a business-to-business relationship.

Visser said finding two companies to sign on as co-primary sponsors took cooperation from Bass Pro Shops CEO Johnny Morris and Rise Meguiar, president of 5-hour Energy’s parent company.

“It took a number of conversations and a spirit of partnership to make this happen and we thank Bass Pro Shops and 5-hour ENERGY for being open-minded to this concept,” Visser said.