NASCAR takeaways: Brad Keselowski, Ford snap winless skids at Darlington
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Brad Keselowski snapped a 110-race winless streak with a victory at a track that rewards drivers who have patience and take what the track gives them.
Keselowski took advantage when his RFK Racing teammate Chris Buescher was door-slammed by Tyler Reddick with about 10 laps remaining, causing them to both have flat tires with nine laps to go and for Keselowski to assume the lead.
While maybe not the best at the end, Keselowski was one of the best cars all day as he led 37 laps on his way to his 36th career victory but first since becoming a co-owner at RFK Racing (Roush Fenway Keselowski) at the start of the 2022 season.
“I love this track,” Keselowski said. “I love coming here. It’s a special place to me whether you win or not, but to run up front all day and have a great car, qualify up front, it was just an awesome day.”
Takeaways after a race at Darlington Raceway where Keselowski was followed across the finish line by Ty Gibbs, Josh Berry, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe.
Big Win For Brad K
Just how big was this win? It was more than just snapping a 110-race winless streak.
Keselowski had finished second in five races since his last win, including twice this year.
He is the first driver to win for a team he owns since Tony Stewart in June 2016 at Sonoma.
He is the first driver to win in the No. 6 car since David Ragan won in July 2011 at Daytona.
It also was the first win for Ford this year.
“There’s a lot of things to be excited about, so it’s really hard to pick one over another, whether it be just winning as a whole, winning at Darlington, winning and locking into the playoffs, winning with my family here, winning on Mother’s Day,” Keselowski said.
“I don’t know how to pick which one means the most, but they all mean a lot. I can tell you that.”
Keselowski had consistently said throughout the streak that he hadn’t thought about the winless streak.
“We just talk about winning,” Keselowski crew chief Matt McCall said. “It does us no good to talk about the losing streak. You’ve just got to talk about how you’re going to win. That’s what you talk about.
“Obviously, it’s been a long time coming, but we feel like we’ve been getting a little closer and closer, so feels good now.”
Buescher Livid With Reddick
Buescher went down to Reddick after the race and shoved him before yelling at him, wondering why he made that move.
Reddick apologized and took the blame.
“He did nothing wrong,” said Reddick, who led 174 of the 293 laps. “I popped his tire [getting into him]. He was going to win the race.”
Buescher was just flabbergasted over the move.
“We had clean racing all day long and to get flat-out fenced like that there’s no excuse. It’s a poor decision and an immature move. I just don’t get it.”
Blaney Upset With Byron
Ryan Blaney also was upset as he was wrecked out early in the race as he got pinched into the wall as he was three-wide with William Byron on the inside and Martin Truex Jr. in the middle.
“Don’t shove it three-wide at a place you can’t run three-wide,” Blaney said. “If he wants to do that, fine, but your responsibility is to leave room. You have to leave room for the top two cars. … He was off the dotted [lane designating] line until we were already wrecking.
“He faded up and sandwiched [Truex] into me.”
Byron said he was surprised they ended up three-wide.
“I felt like I was ahead of them,” he said. “The exit is really narrow right there. I hate if I did come up a little bit. I was surprised I was even in that spot. I felt like I would never get to the bottom of a three-wide there, but the lane was there into [Turn] 1 and my car turned really good.
“I got almost clear of Martin (Truex Jr.), and I hate that it happened.”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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