Brad Keselowski Wins In Thrilling NASCAR Overtime Finish At Kansas Speedway

Brad Keselowski Wins In Thrilling NASCAR Overtime Finish At Kansas Speedway

by May 12, 2019 0 comments

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Brad Keselowski claimed his third win of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season in Saturday night’s thrilling NASCAR Overtime finish at Kansas Speedway.

Keselowski, driver of the Team Penske No. 2 Wurth Ford held off a hard-charging Alex Bowman after a late caution in Saturday’s Digital Ally 400 set the field up for a restart in NASCAR Overtime. Keselowski was able to drive off with the lead, but Bowman wouldn’t let him get away without a fight. In the end, Keselowski led the final laps en route to his second Kansas victory.

Keselowski said, “Yeah, we were just too loose early and then in the traffic I brushed the wall a little bit and we couldn’t get it tightened up and finally with about 100 to go Paul Wolfe and the team made some adjustments and the car responded. I felt we were a top-3 or top-5 car but then the yellow came out right as we came to pit road and I thought we would have to claw to get a top-10. We clawed and clawed and a couple opportunities presented themselves and we were fighting for the lead. Alex Bowman ran an incredible race. I feel kind of bad. I think I kinda stole one from him. He was one of the best cars, him and Kevin Harvick. We just had a little fresher tires and I was able to catch the traffic just right to make the move on him and from there we were able to get the win.”

For the third weekend in a row, Hendrick Motorsports’ Bowman was forced to settle for the runner-up position, still unable to capture his first career victory. The driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet finished second at Talladega Superspeedway and Dover International Speedway in the previous two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races.

“It’s absolutely a good day for everyone at Hendrick Motorsports,” Bowman said. “We all had really competitive cars and we really appreciate everyone’s hard work to continue to build our cars and continue to get better like we have. It was a really good day. My family is from here, so it would have been pretty cool. Probably the two closest times I have been to winning was my hometown and my dad’s hometown, so it’s just frustrating. We will get one soon.”

Erik Jones got every lap out of his four fresh tires as he weaved into third place. The performance marked his third top-five of the season and his third top-10 finish in six starts at Kansas Speedway.

“We just weren’t in the right situation and didn’t have some runs work out and the caution at the end,” said Jones, driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 DeWalt Toyota. “Just didn’t have the right push. Not a lot more you can ask for other than the win.”

Chase Elliott and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-five, while Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher all earned top-10 finishes on Saturday night.

Kevin Harvick dominated early before having to pit under green. He led a race high of 104 laps, and earned the Stage 1 win. Chase Elliott beat Harvick for the Stage 2 victory.

Over the course of the race, there were seven cautions for a total of 41 laps. While there were no multicar incidents in the race, plenty of excitement happened on the track as 12 different drivers managed to take the lead in Saturday night’s race.

After 12 races, Joey Logano leads the points standings over Kyle Busch by nine points.

Next weekend, the stars of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will take to the track at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race. Racing begins with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Open on Saturday, May 18 at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race at 8 p.m. ET. Both events will broadcast live on FOX Sports 1 (FS1).

Photo Credit: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

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