NASCAR
Seas Part for Brad Keselowski at Darlington, First Victory in Three Years
DARLINGTON, S.C. – For the first time in more than three years, Brad Keselowski is a NASCAR winner. The RFK Racing co-owner was in the right position when the leaders ahead of him tangled, ending a 110-race winless drought at Darlington. Ford is finally in victory lane again as well with their new Mustang Dark Horse.
Half of RFK Racing is riding a winning high. Chris Buescher is left steaming however after being taken out.
Heavy prerace favorite Kyle Larson came to life late in Stage 1, taking the win over Ty Gibbs. Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet was the fan voted Best in Show throwback scheme, honoring Terry Labonte’s 1996 championship-winning colors. Labonte was on hand as a guest of Hendrick Motorsports alongside the 5 team.
Polesitter Tyler Reddick led Stage 2 wire-to-wire, establishing himself as the man to beat at Darlington. Stage 2 would see a restart crash taking out Ryan Blaney, when William Byron forced his way into a three-wide situation. After some heated radio chatter, Blaney drove near Byron’s car under caution to show his displeasure.
The lone caution of Stage 3 would fly when Kyle Larson went for a spin in turn three. Despite his speed earlier, Larson left Darlington in a dismal 34th-place result.
On the restart following Larson’s spin, Reddick and Brad Keselowski were door-to-door trading the lead for several laps. This allowed Chris Buescher to take command late with a three-wide pass down the frontstretch, but Reddick still had speed.
Reddick’s attempt at the win would come to an end when he attempted a slide job on Chris Buescher, taking out both contenders. Both the 17 and the 45 were forced to pit with tire damage and finish at the back of the pack.
Up front meanwhile, Keselowski regained the lead with nine laps left and held on for his first victory in over three years. Even with Ty Gibbs charging hard late, the 2018 Southern 500 winner picked up another Darlington triumph. Keselowski erases a 110-race losing drought, dating back to 2021’s Talladega spring race. This marks Keselowski’s maiden win as a team owner, and the 36th of his career.
“What a heck of a day,” Keselowski said. “It’s Darlington, so whether it’s your first win, your last win, this is a really special track. The history of NASCAR, it’s as tough as it gets, and that battle at the end with my teammate and Tyler Reddick, we just laid it all out on the line. It was freaking awesome. I thought it couldn’t get much better than Kansas. It did today. That was awesome. I’m so glad you guys got to see that. That was incredible. Thanks for being here.”
“It wasn’t good, but I knew that I’d have another shot at it. My car was really good on the long runs. When Tyler got underneath Chris, I knew I had another shot at it when they made contact. I couldn’t get by, and I’m like, ugh. Then they must have got a flat tire, I don’t know what happened, and we caught a break. We’ve caught enough bad breaks over the last year or two, it’s nice to catch a good one.”
Behind Keselowski with a career-best finish was Ty Gibbs in second. Josh Berry, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Briscoe rounded out the top-five. William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, Justin Haley, and Michael McDowell were the rest of the top-10. Hear from a few of these drivers below.
After the race, Chris Buescher went over and shoved Tyler Reddick before a heated conversation took place. Buescher said he did not appreciate being wrecked, and Reddick’s move was not going to work without causing a crash.
Following a season’s worth of drama wrapped up in one race, the Cup Series heads to its million dollar night. The 40th annual All-Star Race will be held next Sunday at historic North Wilkesboro Speedway. The exhibition throwdown on the new pavement goes green at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. With so many drivers mad at each other from Darlington, will payback be coming on the no-holds-barred night?
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Peter Stratta/TSJSports
