Brad Keselowski’s race ended early Sunday at Dover International Speedway after a Lap 65 crash with Kurt Busch with both drivers running in the top five.
Busch lost control of his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Ford, racing alongside leader Kyle Larson on a restart. Busch attempted to right his car, but slid into the path of Keselowski’s Team Penske No. 2 Ford, pushing his car into the wall.
“These cars rely so much on aerodynamics. We saw that early with guys being able to stay out on two tires even with a lot of tire wear,” Keselowski said. “I don’t know if it was Kurt’s fault, just one of them racing deals. We line up double-file and somebody got loose and just took us out. What a bummer. Just one of them racing deals.”
Keselowski drove back to the garage, relegating him to a 38th-place finish in the 39-car field for the AAA 400 Drive for Autism. Kurt Busch continued with slight damage, restarting one lap down in 36th place, but his day ended with a heavy single-car crash 30 laps later. He finished 37th.
“I got loose on a restart,” Busch said of his first incident. “It’s my bad as a driver. My bad. We had good speed in our Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford and just couldn’t finish. You can’t make mistakes out here and we did.”
RELATED: Busch suffers left rear damage at Dover
It’s the second straight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race with an early exit for Keselowski, who finished 39th after a wreck in the Coca-Cola 600.