It’s exactly the kind of unmistakable momentum you want with one race remaining before the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begin. And in that sense, perhaps the timing of Brad Keselowski’s first win of the season Sunday night at Darlington Raceway makes up for the near-misses he’s had earlier in the year.
What a positive statement it was for Keselowski, who swept the weekend’s races at the historic track — hoisting the Cup trophy on Sunday and the NASCAR Xfinity Series hardware a day earlier. They were the first wins for the former Cup champion at the race track, considered one of the sport’s crown jewels.
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And it was the first win for team owner Roger Penske at the track since 1975, when he fielded a car for Bobby Allison.
In the hour or so after Sunday’s race, when asked about the impact of the weekend, Keselowski conceded, “Man, I’m kind of in the moment right now … “But I would say it’s pretty damned cool. This is such a special race track. It always has been, and I think it always will be.”
It was also a significant day for the three-car Penske Racing operation, which recorded its first 1-2 finish of the season. Joey Logano finished second and teammate Ryan Blaney was 15th. The team joins Stewart-Haas Racing’s four-car operation as the only two multi-car teams to have every driver qualified for the playoffs.
As great as the moment was for Keselowski and his No. 2 Team Penske Ford Sunday night, it was a strong message for his competition that the team is peaking at the right time. Although Keselowski had already secured a NASCAR Playoff berth based on points earned, having this victory is exactly the kind of positive momentum a driver wants as the postseason begins.
Keselowski reminded reporters Sunday that he has won a race in 2018 — he won the season-opening Clash non-points race at Daytona — but, he conceded having a regular-season win in his pocket was impactful both personally and for the upcoming championship run.
He has won at least one race for eight consecutive seasons — and he has won at least one race in nine of the past 10 years.
Keselowski had two runner-up finishes before Sunday’s win, including a second place just two weeks ago on the Watkins Glen road course.
“It’s been really frustrating because we haven’t had the speed we’ve had over the last few seasons, and then the races where I feel like we’ve had the speed, I feel like I completely screwed them up,” Keselowski explained. “… Today we had a car capable of winning, we executed, we made the most of it, and I’m so thrilled for that because I know those moments are not a guarantee.”
As the playoffs begin, Keselowki knows he’s turned in promising numbers. Six of his 25 career Monster Energy Series wins have come during the playoff portion of the schedule. More than anything, earning that win Sunday night after overcoming a dominant performance by Kyle Larson, who led 284 of the 367 laps, provides a huge boost of confidence to Keselowski, his team and the whole Penske operation.
And it comes at such a clutch time. This week the team is hoping to earn their team owner Penske his first NASCAR win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he is the all-time Indy 500-winning car owner, taking his 17th trophy in May.
On top of that, two more wins within Penske’s multi-series operation would get the owner to 500 victories all-time — a feat attainable with the Monster Energy Series and Xfinity Series racing at Indianapolis next weekend.
Motivation is not lacking and for Keselowski, Sunday’s win was exactly the kind of positive re-set he’s confident could be a game-changer.
“Moments like today are just so refreshing,’’ Keselowski said. “They recharge your batteries so much because the season is such a death march, especially when things aren’t going well, and this is a complete battery recharge for myself and for our team.”
