Brad Keselowski before Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Cody Porter | The Podium Finish)
FORT WORTH, Texas — Though Brad Keselowski scored his best finish of the 2024 season, he left Texas Motor Speedway frustrated.
Keselowski ended up second, sneaking past William Byron before a caution in NASCAR Overtime but ultimately falling short to Chase Elliott — who broke a 42-race winless streak.
But Keselowski wasn’t just frustrated that he finished second. He felt like he backed into the finish and didn’t have the speed to compete. As the owner of RFK Racing, that bothered him the most.
“We didn’t have a ton of speed,” Keselowski said after the race. “I am more frustrated than anything because I feel like we have a great team and we don’t have the speed to go win it. We are doing all we can do to overcome that. The driver in me is frustrated because I feel like these are races I am good enough to win but don’t have the speed enough to do it. The owner in me is mad as hell because it is my fault for not making the cars faster.”
Through an attrition race that included 16 cautions for 72 laps, Keselowski grinded through the field. He started 22nd and got up to 14th at the end of Stage 1 before finishing Stage 2 inside the top 10, recording five points for a sixth-place finish.
Keselowski ended up on a tire advantage in Stage 3, and after John Hunter Nemechek brought out the caution on Lap 230, the 40-year-old from Rochester Hills, Michigan, restarted 10th. He flew up to fourth in just 10 laps and then found himself on the second row for a series of late-race restarts.
After Denny Hamlin wrecked from second during the first overtime attempt, Keselowski jumped up to third and restarted on the inside of William Byron. Ross Chastain, who restarted second, crashed on the final lap after contact with Byron and Keselowski managed to slip by him before the race-ending caution got thrown.
Brad Keselowski during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Sean Folsom | The Podium Finish)
“I am still proud of the team that we have with the pit stops and strategy and execution to put ourselves in a position to get a finish we probably didn’t deserve but earned with some never-give-up spirit,” Keselowski explained. “It was a good job of executing with what we had. It is frustrating. You can still get good finishes by running good smart days, executing on pit road, and having great strategy and I am proud of our team for doing that today.”
After opening the season with wrecks at Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway, Keselowski and the No. 6 team have taken steps forward. They finished in the top five consecutively at Phoenix Raceway and Martinsville Speedway and also recorded a top 10 at Martinsville Speedway. The team finished 13th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the only other intermediate race before Sunday.
Through nine races, Keselowski sits 17th in driver’s points.
The NASCAR Cup Series returns on Sunday, April 21 at Talladega Superspeedway. The race is set for 3 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
