Brad Keselowski couldn’t match Tyler Reddick’s pace on the final stretch of Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. The RFK Racing driver ended up second after a dominant 142-lap lead.
Keselowski began inside the top-5 and captured the lead before Stage 1. He went on to sweep both stages and maintain his lead, but the No.6 driver couldn’t fend off a charging Reddick, who passed him on lap 266 despite a flurry of mechanical issues derailing his momentum.
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The 23XI driver went on to finish more than 5 seconds ahead of Keselowski. The result marked his fourth win in six races, a season-high win record for both Reddick and 23XI Racing.
In a post-race interview with NASCAR analyst Bob Pockrass, Keselowski shared a brief remark on his battle with Reddick.
“I was doing all I could to make his life hell and he was so much faster, it didn’t matter. So, that’s how it goes,” he said. [1:12 onwards]
The result marked yet another second-place finish for Brad Keselowski in his RFK Racing career. Notably, he fetched three runner-up finishes last season.
The stage wins helped Keselowski net 55 points on Sunday, bumping him to ninth on the standings with 182 points.
Brad Keselowski shares verdict on new car package at Darlington
As part of the new regulations, NASCAR teams brought a 750 horsepower car to Darlington. The machinery also produced lower downforce, tire fallof and grip issues. However, drivers like Ryan Blaney claimed that he was able to chase down frontrunners far better.
When asked if the new rules favoured Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski gave a honest assessment, saying(via aforementioned source),
“I think Tyler’s a great driver. You shouldn’t take it away from that. But you know they’re clearly up on horsepower and downforce right now and he’s making that count. So these deserve a lot of credit.”
Reflecting upon the new package, Keselowski said,
“The cars were just incredibly difficult to drive and you know, as a driver, you’re just trying to finish the lap, so to speak. And when you’re around other cars, you have to be really, really smart, really, really careful. I thought the cars were a lot better in traffic today than what they’ve been so thought that was a gain. I think NASCAR is doing the right thing trying things. It’s tough at a track like this.”
Brad Keselowski was one of the first drivers to break the news about the horsepower bump. RFK Racing as a whole, has improved under the new package. Chris Buescher also had a good run at Darlington with a P9 finish. His sixth-place finish at Las Vegas further adds to the cause.
Buescher has an ever better standing compared to Keselowski, as he sits in seventh with 188 points to his name.
Edited by Vignesh Kanna
