Brad Keselowski wins Southern 500, ends Penske’s drought at Darlington Raceway
After a 43-year drought, a Penske driver returned to Victory Lane at Darlington Raceway.
Brad Keselowski took the lead off pit road late in Sunday’s Southern 500 and went on to win one of NASCAR’s crown jewel races. He is the first Team Penske driver to win at NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway since Bobby Allison won the 1975 Southern 500.
“It’s pretty cool,” Keselowski said. “This is such a special race track. It always has been and always will be. When you add in all the retro stuff a few years ago, it is like a spark that reignited this track to being stupid cool. To win here and wearing Rusty Wallace’s colors, I kind of feel like I’m in a dream from when I was 10 years old. It’s probably the biggest win of my career.”
Wallace, the former Penske Hall of Fame driver, had never one at Darlington but was there to celebrate with Keselowski in Victory Lane.
Keselowski swept the weekend at Darlington after capturing the Xfinity race Saturday. It is the second consecutive year a driver swept the Darlington weekend. Denny Hamlin did it last season.
The victory was a much-needed confidence boost for Keselowski, who has won at least one race in eight straight seasons.
Kyle Larson looked to be the car to beat all night and led 284 of 367 laps. But things got interesting for Larson when three late cautions came out, the final one on 344 for Jeffrey Earnhardt.
Keselowski’s pit crew turned a strong pit stop and he beat Larson and teammate Joey Logano off pit road on lap 345.
Keselowski did the rest over the final 22 laps on his way to his 25th career Cup victory.
“I got to give a lot of credit to my pit crew,” Keselowski said. “We were running second and on the last stop they nailed it. They got us out in the lead. Kyle Larson was flat-out flying but I know how it goes. In 2015, we led a bunch of laps and lost on the last pit stop. Today, we won it on the last pit stop.”
Paul Wolfe, Keselowski’s crew chief, said he was just hoping the pit crew wouldn’t drop any spots during the final stop. Keselowski was in second place on final stop.
“It was an up-and-down night on pit road,” Wolfe said. “I was hoping to at least maintain our spot. But when the guys got us off pit road first, I knew we had a shot at this. I knew we were fast enough and if we had clean air, we would likely go on our way.”
Logano was second followed by Larson, Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott. It was Larson’s seventh top three finish this year.
Larson has led more than 100 laps in three different races this season but has yet to win any of them. The California native is yet to win this season but has clinched a spot in the playoffs.
“I was praying for long runs. I didn’t want to see those last couple cautions,” Larson said. “I knew coming down pit road it always nerve-wracking. You don’t know what is going to happen. We had some good pit stops throughout the night.
“Our car was so good on long runs that I wanted it to stay green. Our car was so good so I was happy about that.”
Hamlin, the defending race winner finished 10th but clinched a spot in the playoffs along with Aric Almirola. There are two playoff spots left to fill going into next weekend’s regular-season finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman go into the final race of regular season in the final two playoff spots. Johnson exited Sunday’s race on lap 227 with a mechanical failure, putting the seven-time champion in an unfamiliar spot.
“I don’t want to be in this position,” Johnson said. “We have been around this spot for a while. We have seen it coming. We just need to transfer and honestly, I think our cars are capable of running in the top five. If we can just start minimizing mistakes, my own included, we will be much better off and have a shot.”
The race was delayed 45 minutes because of the threat of bad weather spotted near the track.
Three observations
Another throwback success: The fourth annual NASCAR throwback at Darlington Raceway was another success. Seats were nearly full at the track and teams, drivers have a ball dipping into nostalgia with various throwback paint schemes, wardrobe and honoring legends of the sport.
Big three not a factor: Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. have been dominant most of the season but none of them were a factor Sunday night. All three drivers finished in the top 11 but only Truex (30) led any laps in the race.
Larson will get his: Kyle Larson didn’t get the win but odds are it will happen soon. In five starts at Darlington, the California native has four top-10 finishes.
3 key numbers
4: Number of DNFs for Jimmie Johnson after leaving race with a mechanical issue on lap 227.
39: Number of points Kyle Busch leads Kevin Harvick by in points standings.
498: Number of career victories for Team Penske Racing
Next race: Sept. 9 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 2 p.m. (NBC Sports Network)
This story was originally published September 2, 2018 at 11:01 PM.