Bad Brad is back: Keselowski capitalizes on late race clash

RFK bossman and 2012 cup series champion Brad Keselowski finally returned to victory lane at Darlington after a 3 year winless streak. The win came late in the race after a fierce battle with teammate/employee Chris Buescher and 23XI phenom Tyler Reddick.

The end of this race could be found in the beginning, as Reddick and Keselowski both lined up on the front row. Reddick dominated the lead in the early stages, holding the lead for the majority of the first stage. However, 2nd year driver Ty Gibbs, still searching for his first cup series victory, took the lead after the first cycle of pitstops. Gibbs would then lose the lead to Kyle Larson’s HMS #5 who went on to take the flag in stage one. 

Stage One Results:

1. #5
2. #54
3. #6
4. #45
5. #19
6. #38
7. #17
8. #12
9. #24
10.  #23

Tyler Reddick was the story of the second stage. The 23XI star dominated stage 2 of the race, fending off multiple challenges from Keselowski on restarts. 

Stage 2 saw the first cautions for cause of the day. John Hunter Nemechek’s #42 spun coming out of turn 4, and a stack up on the restart took out defending series champion Ryan Blaney. The final caution of the stage was for Zane Smith’s #71 spinning on the frontstretch, knocking him out of the race. 

Reddick ran away with the rest of the stage and took the flag.

Stage Two Results:

1. #45
2. #6
3. #54
4. #22
5. #5
6. #24
7. #17
8. #11
9. #23
10.  #1

Reddick led the start of the second stage, before the lead was handed off to the eventual winner in Brad Keselowski. The final caution of the day came out on lap 255, for the #5 of Larson.  A flat tire rattled Kyle Larson’s cage and sent the last week’s winner backwards into the wall. 

On the final restart of the day, Keselowski desperately hung onto Reddick on the bottom, getting help from teammate Buescher. The two leaders came together in turn four on lap 263, allowing Buescher to sweep by below and take the lead. The #45 maintained the gap to the #17, and sent a divebomb move to the inside on lap 284, forcing both himself and Buescher into the wall and out of contention. 

Bad Brad was in the lead once again, holding off Ty Gibbs to break his 3 year winless streak and the longest of his cup career. 

After their late race run-in, Reddick and Buescher finished 32nd and 30th respectively. Heartbreak two years in a row for Buescher, who lost the closest finish in NASCAR history to Larson one week ago at Kansas Speedway. Buescher enters the all-star break searching for his first win of the 2024 campaign. 

Josh Berry ran a good race and earned a 3rd place finish, Hamlin finished 4th and Briscoe rounded out the top 5, topping off a strong showing for Stewart-Haas Racing. Justin Haley and the Rick Ware #51 finished 9th, notching off their first top-10 outside of a drafting track. 

The cup series rolls into North Wilkesboro one week from now for the All-Star race, where NASCAR’s best compete for the million. 

Featured Image Credits: @NASCAR on X