DARLINGTON (WBTW) - Brad Keselowski ended a 110-race winless streak on Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway, earning the win in Sunday’s Goodyear 400.
After his first victory since the 2021 season Keselowski spoke about the win and being with his wife and children on a Mother's Day. "This is a really, really special day...I got my whole family here. I get to celebrate with them," said Keselowski. "Darlington itself is a special track. It's part of the history of NASCAR," he continued. "It's just awesome to get back in victory lane anywhere -- but here -- it's always been a special track to me."
"My daughters are eight and four and. I want them to have this memory of being in victory lane and be old enough to remember it and I hope they carry it with it forever," said Keselowski."
The victory is Keselowski’s first as team co-owner and driver for RFK Racing and first since April 2021 at Talladega Superspeedway when he competed for Team Penske. Keselowski led 37 laps on his way to the checkered flag, Ford’s first of 2024.
Behind him, Ty Gibbs, Josh Berry, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe completed the top five.
A restart with 33 laps remaining set up a dazzling battle for the lead between Tyler Reddick, Keselowski and Chris Buescher. Reddick and Keselowski ran multiple laps side-by-side in a fight for the lead, allowing Buescher to close from behind and soar to the bottom of the track and dart past both in a three-wide pass for the lead.
But with 10 laps to go, Reddick made a dive-bomb move to Buescher’s left to fight for the lead. Reddick slid high and put Buescher into the outside wall. The same contact cut Reddick’s right-rear tire, sending both him and Buescher to pit road and ending their chances to win.
After the race, Buescher confronted Reddick on pit road to express his frustration. One week ago at Kansas, Buescher fell short of the win to Kyle Larson by 0.001 seconds, the closest margin of victory in NASCAR Cup Series history.
Courtesy - NASCAR
Race Highlights courtesy of FS1