senor honda

Keselowski wins wreck-strewn Talladega with last-lap pass

Sunday, 15 October 2017


By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service / Image by Lesley Ann Miller/LAT



10 Shares
On the Longest Day at Talladega—in a war of attrition that required three red flags and left 14 cars running at the finish—Brad Keselowski powered his No. 2 Team Penske Ford past the No. 31 Chevrolet of Ryan Newman on the final lap to win Sunday's Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Two laps after the final restart on Lap 186 of 188, Keselowski and teammate Joey Logano ganged up on Newman, who held the runner-up position after Keselowski shot past him. Trevor Bayne ran third in a damaged No. 6 Ford, with Logano and Aric Almirola finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

• Results | Driver points

Denny Hamlin came home sixth, the only Playoff driver other than Keselowski whose car wasn't heavily damaged in one of the myriad wrecks that punctuated an event that consumed 3 hours, 53 minutes, 17 seconds—not including the three stoppages that totaled 35 minutes, 29 seconds.
But in winning for the fifth time at Talladega, the third time this season and the 24th time in his career, Keselowski claimed the important prize—a ticket into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series' Round of 8.
In his final run at Talladega in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, pole winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. restarted third after the 11th and final caution, tried unsuccessfully to push Keselowski to the lead through the first two corners and fell back to seventh at the finish.


"I feel like only eight cars finished the race," said Keselowski, who gave Ford its seventh straight victory in restrictor-plate races, despite running much of the final stage with a broken radio antenna and intermittent communication with his spotter and crew chief. "It was one of those crazy days. I think we've seen that at the plate tracks this year—a lot of attrition...


"This is still sinking in. It's a special place to get to race and a special place when you win here. It was really a collaborative effort with the team and getting a real fast car and making the right moves as a driver and a lot of help from up above with staying out of those wrecks. It really takes all three and we had them all today."
Though Newman surged to the front after the final restart, he assumed his stint at the point would be short-lived.


"We held them off longer than I expected," Newman said. "I couldn't tell how much nose damage I had and I hadn't led all day, so I didn't know what to expect. I saw the No. 2 car in the mirror backing up and then he lost his draft and then he backed up again and he caught the No. 22 (Logano). That was all it took for him to get a good run.


"I would have maybe played it differently and backed it up in hindsight, backed up to them in hindsight, but I don't think it would have made a difference. They were double-teaming me, and it was still a good race to finish second with the Caterpillar Chevrolet."

senor honda

Brad Keselowski wins wreck strewn Talladega 2017:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2a1t2Jh0O0

senor honda

Brad Keselowski It's a privilege to run at Talladega:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7XGdubtHwI

Brad Keselowski talks about his fifth win at Talladega and what it means to advance to the Round of 8.

senor honda

Brad Keselowski talks about winning at Talladega playoffs to advance to round of 8 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7W92G_fJ1k