Keselowski Wins STP 500 at Martinsville

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MARTINSVILLE, VA - RIS - Amongst all the talk about 'young guns," a veteran former Cup champion won the STP 500 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series event at Martinsville Speedway.  Brad Keselowski passed Kyle Busch with less than 100 laps to go and was never headed for the win.  The race ws mostly a battle between Keselowski, Busch, and Chase Elliott.  Kyle Larson led early but faded and finished 17th. Martin Truex, Jr. was also a factor with 42 laps led.

During stage 1, Larson took off from the pole and led the first 23 laps. But his car seemed to slow.  Larson had a handsome lead, but little by little Brad Keselowski passed the Target Chevrolet for the lead and held it for the next 47 laps. His teammate, Joey Logano moved into second place.  Unfortunately, a spin by fellow Ford driver Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. caused a caution and both Keselowski and Logano were both penalized while making their pit stops, Keselowski for speeding on pit road and Logano for crew over the wall too soon.  Both were sent to the back of the field.

Caution two came at Lap 108 when Jamie McMurray lost a tire in Turn one and slammed his driver’s side into the wall.  Pit road became busy.  The caution lasted from lap 108 to 116.

Stage 1 ended when Dale Earnhardt Jr. spun in Turn 1.  After a quick caution of three laps, Martin Truex, Jr. won the stage.  The Top 10 was made up of Truex, Denny Hamilton, Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Jimmie Johnson, Austin Dillon, and Clint Bowyer.

Stage two was a royal battle with the car of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. trying to stay on the lead lap.  Kyle Busch had dominated the stage, but a desperate Stenhouse contacted Busch which allowed Elliott to lead the stage.  The second stage saw Elliott, Busch, Keselowski, Johnson, Blaney, Earnhardt, Hamlin, Erik Jones, Trevor Bayne, and Kasey Kahne.

The final stage tended to be wild, even for Martinsville.  With 100 laps to go, which is not unusual, the running order became standard with Busch, Keselowski, and Elliott running 1-2-3, but on a restart with 87 laps to go after Keselowski had passed Busch on an earlier caution, the two battled again with this time Busch getting the pass on the outside.  A crash in Turn three involving Danica Patrick and Denny Hamlin brought out another caution.  When they lined up for the restart at lap 426 (74 to go), Busch took the lead.  At lap 429, Keselowski took the lead by diving deep into thefirst turn.  Another caution on the next lap caused by a Martin Truex, Jr occurred.  They restarted at lap 436.  Keselowski took the lead with Busch on his bumper.

Busch took the lead at Lap 445.  They ran bumper-to-bumper until Keselowski made a pass to the inside at lap 449.  Keselowski held the lead for the rest of the race.  Busch, Elliott, Logano, and Austin Dillon rounded out the top five.

It was the second 2017 victory for Keselowski, having won earlier at Atlanta Motor Speedway.  It was his first win at Martinsville. Ford have won half of the six races this year .

Unofficial Race Results for the 68th Annual STP 500 - Martinsville Speedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, St1, St2, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts, Laps, Pts, Status
1) 4, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 4, 3, 4, 116, 5, 500, 55, Running
2) 10, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Toyota, 3, 2, 7, 274, , 500, 52, Running
3) 2, Chase Elliott, No. 24 SunEnergy1 Chevrolet, 5, 1, 2, 20, 1, 500, 50, Running
4) 5, Joey Logano, No. 22 Duralast GT Ford, , , 1, 1, , 500, 33, Running
5) 20, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Okuma Chevrolet, 9, , , , , 500, 34, Running
6) 30, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, , , , , , 500, 31, Running
7) 8, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Haas Automation Ford, 10, , , , , 500, 31, Running
8) 11, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet Chevrolet, , , , , , 500, 29, Running
9) 25, Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Tide Pods Toyota, , 7, , , , 500, 32, Running
10) 24, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford, , , , , , 500, 27, Running
11) 33, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Bush's Beans Chevrolet, , , , , , 500, 26, Running
12) 15, Erik Jones #, No. 77 5-hour ENERGY Extra Strength Toyota, , 8, , , , 500, 28, Running
13) 16, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford, , 9, , , , 500, 26, Running
14) 13, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet, , 10, , , , 500, 24, Running
15) 17, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 8, 4, , , , 500, 32, Running
16) 3, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota, 1, , 2, 42, 1, 500, 31, Running
17) 1, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, 6, , 1, 23, , 500, 25, Running
18) 18, Aric Almirola, No. 43 STP Ford, , , , , , 500, 19, Running
19) 22, Paul Menard, No. 27 Duracell/Menards Chevrolet, , , , , , 500, 18, Running
20) 9, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Jimmy John's Ford, , , , , , 500, 17, Running
21) 31, Cole Whitt, No. 72 Bad Boy Mowers Chevrolet, , , , , , 499, 16, Running
22) 23, Ty Dillon #, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, , , , , , 499, 15, Running
23) 29, Danica Patrick, No. 10 TaxAct Ford, , , , , , 499, 14, Running
24) 34, David Ragan, No. 38 Camping World/Good Sam Ford, , , , , , 498, 13, Running
25) 7, Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 7, 5, , , , 498, 22, Running
26) 26, Michael McDowell, No. 95 WRL General Contractors Chevrolet, , , , , , 497, 11, Running
27) 27, Landon Cassill, No. 34 FR8 Auctions Ford, , , , , , 497, 10, Running
28) 35, * Corey LaJoie #, No. 83 RMC Events Toyota, , , , , , 496, 9, Running
29) 37, Gray Gaulding #, No. 23 SunFrog.com Toyota, , , , , , 495, 8, Running
30) 12, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, 2, , 2, 24, , 493, 16, Running
31) 32, Reed Sorenson, No. 15 Chevrolet, , , , , , 492, 6, Running
32) 19, Daniel Suarez #, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota, , , , , , 489, 5, Running
33) 38, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 51 Go-Parts.com Chevrolet, , , , , , 486, 0, Running
34) 21, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet, , 6, , , , 418, 8, Accident
35) 28, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Keen Parts Ford, , , , , , 401, 2, Accident
36) 36, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 33 Little Joes Autos/Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet, , , , , , 385, 1, Accident
37) 14, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford, , , , , , 295, 1, Accident
38) 6, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet, , , , , , 105, 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series; (#) Rookie; (*) non-charter team

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 44 Mins, 59 Secs.
Average Speed: 70.139 MPH
Margin of Victory: 1.806 Seconds
Race Comments: Brad Keselowski won the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway, his 23rd career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory. Prior the start of the race, the following car dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: No. 19 (backup car).
Fourteen cautions for 95 laps: Laps: 71-76 (No. 17 and 27 Incident in Turn 3 [13]); 108-117 (No. 1 Incident in Turn 1 [72]); 124-127 (No. 21 and 88 Incident in Turn 2 [10]); 132-141 (Stage 1 Conclusion [17]); 262-273 (Stage 2 Conclusion [37]); 280-283 (Debris in Turn 2 [42]); 290-294 (No. 3, 5, 19, 41, 47 and 77 incident on the frontstretch [10]); 298-302 (No. 41 Incident in Turn 3 [43]); 310-314 (No. 23 Spin in Turn 2 [22]); 335-340 (No. 15 Spin in Turn 3 [27]); 392-399 (No. 33 Incident in Turn 2 [5]); 408-414 (No. 32 Incident in Turn 3 [4]); 419-426 (No. 5, 10, 11, 13, 43, 47 and 88 Incident in Turn 3 [77]); 432-436 (No. 14, 20 and 78 Incident in Turn 4 [72]).
Eighteen ead changes among seven drivers: K. Larson 1-23; B. Keselowski 24-71; J. Logano 72; M. Truex Jr. 73-88; D. Hamlin 89-108; Kyle Busch 109; M. Truex Jr. 110-135; Kyle Busch 136-144; C. Elliott 145-151; Kyle Busch 152-259; C. Elliott 260-272; Kyle Busch 273-336; D. Hamlin 337-340; Kyle Busch 341-405; B. Keselowski 406-415; Kyle Busch 416-428; B. Keselowski 429-443; Kyle Busch 444-457; B. Keselowski 458-500.
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kyle Busch, No. 18
Ingersoll Rand Power Move: AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 4 positions
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Toyota Racing Development (TRD), No. 18
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Kyle Busch, No. 18
Moog Go the Extra Mile: Kyle Busch, No. 18 crew chief Adam Stevens, 0.227 seconds
Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap: Kyle Larson, No. 42
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Erik Jones, No. 77