The No. 6 eam gets the car ready for Brad Keselowski (Photo: Landen Ciardullo | The Podium Finish)
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Brad Keselowski has had a lackluster start to the 2024 NASCAR season with two consecutive 33rd-place finishes at the Daytona 500 and Atlanta Motor Speedway and a 13th place result at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
However, Keselowski and the No. 6 team saw the success that the 2012 Cup Series champion is used to on Sunday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway with a fourth-place finish following the Shriners Children’s 500.
Keselowski did not have top five speed at the beginning of the weekend, with the Rochester Hills, Michigan, native placing 22nd in Friday’s practice session. His fastest lap was 0.345 seconds behind leader Joey Logano’s after 59 practice laps run.
The RFK Racing driver’s speed improved slightly from Friday afternoon during practice to Saturday afternoon during qualifying, with Keselowski qualifying in 18th to start the Cup Series first visit to Phoenix.
Slowly but surely, Keselowski drove his way to 16th place by Lap 18 of the 312-lap race following the first caution of the day. With 12 laps to go in the first stage of the race, the 40-year-old racer passed Daniel Suárez to improve his track position to 15th, where ultimately placed.
Then, Keselowski and the No. 6 team gained five spots after their pit stop getting ready for Stage 2 as the RFK Racing driver was able to gain even more positions in the restart.
Once Stage 2 kicked off its first green flag laps, Keselowski settled into the seventh position by Lap 71 of the race. The 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion held onto his track position until Ryan Blaney passed him by Lap 85. Christopher Bell was also able to pass Keselowski not long after on Lap 91 which left him in ninth place but was a great improvement from his starting position.
Less than halfway through Stage 2, Keselowski was able to maintain his position at the 1-mile track for the remainder of the stage, earning him a ninth place stage finish and much needed stage points.
Throughout Stage 3, Keselowski worked his way up five more positions to fourth place, where finished overall in the race. Following the race, Keselowski noted the speed of his car compared to race winner Christopher Bell.
“It was a good solid day for us,” Keselowski noted. “We want to win these races but we didn’t have anywhere near the speed the 20 car (Christopher Bell) did, I don’t know if anybody did to be quite honest. We put ourselves in good position with. a good pit call and a great restart at the end and we just tried to execute.”
“The potential is there. We are just one step away and we are going to keep working on it until we get there.”
If Keselowski and the No. 6 team can build momentum and be consistent like they were in Phoenix, they will build on the success that they saw late last season.
