Brad Keselowski Overcomes Speeding Penalty To Win DC Solar 200 At ISM Raceway

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Brad Keselowski overcame a pit road speeding penalty and prevailed through the rain hindered DC Solar 200 to win at ISM Raceway on Saturday.

Keselowski’s victory was solidified when his crew got him off pit road just ahead of Christopher Bell during the final stop of the afternoon. The Team Penske driver entered the pits ahead of Bell, but as they raced off pit road, Keselowski was just barely able to stay ahead. The two drivers battled each other on the track, but it was Keselowski in the No. 22 Fitzgerald Glider Kit Ford Mustang who was able to navigate through lapped traffic and and hold on for the win.

“Christopher (Bell) was really strong in the long run and I thought he would be more than we could handle but we got on pit road and got new tires on it and our car took back off,” Keselowski said.

The victory didn’t come easy for Keselowski. The 200-lap race had two lengthy red flags for rain, and Keselowski had to overcome a pit road speeding penalty that was assessed on lap 52.

“Brian Wilson (crew chief) made some great adjustments to the car and the weather kind of came to us with what we needed for how our car was handling,” Keselowski said in Victory Lane. “It is good to see that work out for everyone at Team Penske with the Fitzgerald Glider Ford Mustang. It was a solid team effort. I wasn’t perfect today by any stretch of the imagination but the car was really strong. Really, really good for about 50-60 laps. The last 20 laps it would fall off pretty good but the guys made it count. I am really proud of them.”

JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier led a race high of 76 laps, but the driver of the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet had to settle for a second-place finish. Allgaier entered the weekend coming off a third-place effort at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Saturday’s effort marked Allgaier’s third top-10 finish in the first four races this season.

“We just needed that extra little bit there at the end,” Allgaier said. “You know, the last pit stop, I was a little bit too tight, and we freed it up. It was just a little bit too much of an adjustment there. Unfortunate, but Brad (Keselowski) had a great car all day as did the 20 (Christopher Bell) 22 (Brad Keselowski), it was fun racing with all of those guys. We’ll see what happens. We’ll go next week to California, Auto Club Speedway hopefully it goes well and have a good time.”

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch and Bell finished fourth and fifth, while Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-five. Daniel Hemric finished sixth, followed by Matt Tifft, Cole Custer, Elliott Sadler and Tyler Reddick.

There were only four cautions throughout the afternoon. None were for multicar accidents.

Sadler leads Reddick in the NASCAR XFINITY Series standings by only one point.

On Saturday, March 17, the NASCAR XFINITY Series will visit Auto Club Speedway. The race will broadcast live on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) and the Motor Racing Network (MRN) at 5 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Robert Laberge/Getty Images

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