Brad Keselowski during driver introductions for the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, October 6, 2024. (Photo: Hayden Hutchison | The Podium Finish)
LINCOLN, Ala. — “Aggressive” was the word of the day at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, and Brad Keselowski did not fail to participate in the 40-car field’s trend of bold racing.
Hearts were pounding in drivers, crew members and fans alike throughout the 195-lap YellaWood 500. The racing was tight and competitive every lap, with no one giving up their positions without a fight, especially with significant stage points on the line for the 12 playoff drivers. Keselowski may have missed out on the championship fight this year, but it was no less important for him to win at NASCAR’s most daunting track.
Keselowski qualified the No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford in the 13th position, a solid starting point for the RFK Racing crew. At a track where anything can happen at any time, qualifying position at Talladega does not always matter as much as it does at other tracks. A top 10 starting position definitely does not guarantee a great finish, as Keselowski demonstrated with a top-notch finish in Sunday’s race.
During a somewhat mediocre afternoon hanging towards the back half of the field, Keselowski was probably looking at a similar finish in the fairly uneventful superspeedway race. There had only been two cautions besides the stage breaks in the first two stages, with his RFK Racing teammate, Chris Buescher, winning Stage 1.
However, the tides turned as Stage 3 progressed and the manufacturers’ differing fuel strategies played out. Many of the Fords pitted earlier than the Chevrolets and Toyotas to keep their tanks topped off, allowing them to avoid a dire fuel-saving mode when it counted. Keselowski’s last pit stop took place on Lap 172 and he, along with Joey Logano, were able to cycle out right behind the leader, Austin Cindric, under the green flag.
Brad Keselowski’s No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford deep in the field during the YellaWood 500. (Photo: Hayden Hutchison | The Podium Finish)
On Lap 185, the inevitable “Big One” came to pass when the low line led by Cindric lost momentum and checked up, resulting in Keselowski spinning the leader out. Keselowski was able to skate past Cindric before he took out most of the field behind him. The red flag waved and the race was put into overtime for the finish.
“It was just an interesting sequence of events,” Keselowski remarked post-race. “The 38 car came. He was a slow car for whatever reason, I don’t know, and he stayed on the bottom and we had the Ford train pulling the bottom and when he did that, it broke us all up and when we rubber-banded back together, it just snapped. It’s a tough deal. I was getting pushed from behind and I ran into the 2 car and he spun out. It just wasn’t a good sequence of events for all of us.”
A tight back-and-forth battle ensued at the restart. With 2021 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson pushing him on the inside, Keselowski carried a ton of momentum through Turns 3 and 4 on the final lap. But, Larson’s teammate William Byron was pushing Ricky Stenhouse Jr. just as quickly on the outside, giving him the shove he needed coming out of Turn 4 to launch out in front of Keselowski. Despite Byron moving out to the third lane on the outside to go for the win, Stenhouse had just enough power left to beat Keselowski to the line by 0.006 seconds.
Brad Keselowski and Todd Gilliland on track during Sunday’s race at Talladega. (Photo: Hayden Hutchison | The Podium Finish)
“He [Larson] gave me a good push down the front stretch, but the 24 was able to really stick with the 47 there and just needed a tiny bit,” Keselowski said. “It’s a good finish for us. We’ve been knocking on the door of these plate tracks. I hate that we didn’t bust through with a win, but I’m happy to be right there in contention.
“I just needed a half a foot, I guess. I got a really good push from the 5 down the front stretch, but just wasn’t quite enough.”
For the second time in the 2024 season, Keselowski was left hanging with a second place finish at Talladega. However, plenty of motivation remains for the six-time winner to try his hand once more in the Spring 2025 race.
