Keselowski Wins Atlanta Cup Race Despite Having the Flu

AP Photo

HAMPTON, GA – RIS – Brad Keselowski had suffered a stomach virus this whole weekend.  Even his wife was stricken with the virus, but some IV’s and a great car, he was able to win the Quik Trip 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.  It was his 28th career win in NASCAR’s top series and allowed him to pass legend Mark Donahue as the winningest driver in the history of Team Penske.

"This is one I'm not going to forget for a really long time," Keselowski said in victory lane. "This day — I'm not even sure how to put it into words.

"I'm just excited for this team, first race with the new rules or whatever they're called now, and to be able to win it, that's really special, as well, and I know everybody here is excited about that, and just a great day overall for Team Penske and our Ford Mustang.

It was the Mustang’s first point-paying win in the Cup Series.

It also was an iffy day for Keselowski.  Before the race, he said he had lost  six pounds while fighting off the bug,  but he held off Martin Truex Jr. in the closing laps after taking the lead from teammate Joey Logano with 27 laps to go. It was Keselowski's second win at Atlanta and 60th overall win in the top three NASCAR Series, counting Gander Outdoors Truck series and Xfinity Series races.

"Any win means a lot, but that's a big number," said Keselowski, who passed Mark Donohue's 59 wins across multiple racing series with Penske.

Kurt Busch finished third, Kevin Harvick fourth and Clint Bowyer fifth. Kyle Busch came home sixth, Erik Jones seventh, Aric Almirola eighth, Chris Buescher ninth and Daniel Suarez 10th.

 For the second week in a row, that cars had wrecked on pit road. Ryan Preece rammed into the back of BJ McLeod while trying to enter his pit stall during a green-flag pit stop. With fluid spilling on pit road, officials waved the yellow flag with 52 laps to go. Preece, a rookie with JTG Daugherty Racing, had been running in the top 10 but the damage to his No. 47 Chevrolet ended his day.

Kyle Larson who had led 142 laps, the most in the race to that point, came off pit road first but was penalized for speeding and was forced to restart at the end of the lead-lap cars.  He never recovered after the penalty and finished 12th.  It was a bad day for Chevrolet teams.  Kurt Busch and Larson were the bright spots, but the rest of the field, including the four Hendrick Motorsports Camaros finished 15th, 17th, 19th, and 24th.

 


Unofficial Race Results for the 60th Annual Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 - Feb 24, 2019 - Atlanta Motor Speedway

Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Pts, Status, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts
1) 19, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Autotrader Ford, 325, , , 40, Running, 1, 33, 5
2) 9, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 325, 5, 3, 49, Running, 4, 4, 
3) 8, Kurt Busch, No. 1 ComSurv Chevrolet, 325, 4, 7, 45, Running, 1, 1, 
4) 18, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Beer Ford, 325, 2, 1, 52, Running, 7, 45, 1
5) 3, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Haas Automation Ford, 325, 10, 10, 34, Running, , , 
6) 6, Kyle Busch, No. 18 Snickers Creamy Toyota, 325, , 9, 33, Running, , , 
7) 15, Erik Jones, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota, 325, , 8, 33, Running, , , 
8) 1, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 325, 3, , 37, Running, 1, 36, 
9) 30, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Scott Comfort Plus Chevrolet, 325, , , 28, Running, , , 
10) 5, Daniel Suarez, No. 41 ARRIS Ford, 325, , , 27, Running, , , 
11) 4, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, 325, 8, 5, 35, Running, , , 
12) 7, Kyle Larson, No. 42 McDonald's Chevrolet, 325, 1, 2, 44, Running, 7, 142, 1
13) 13, Ryan Newman, No. 6 Acorns Ford, 325, , , 24, Running, , , 
14) 14, Paul Menard, No. 21 Menards/Moen Ford, 325, , , 23, Running, , , 
15) 16, Alex Bowman, No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet, 325, , , 22, Running, , , 
16) 23, David Ragan, No. 38 FireAde Ford, 325, , , 21, Running, , , 
17) 17, William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 325, , , 20, Running, , , 
18) 2, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Little Hug Ford, 324, 9, , 21, Running, 1, 1, 
19) 22, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 324, , , 18, Running, , , 
20) 28, Daniel Hemric(#), No. 8 Red Kap/Alsco Chevrolet, 324, , , 17, Running, , , 
21) 10, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Chevrolet, 324, , , 16, Running, , , 
22) 26, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 PPG Ford, 324, 6, 4, 27, Running, 1, 41, 
23) 27, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 324, 7, 6, 23, Running, 3, 22, 
24) 11, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 323, , , 13, Running, , , 
25) 21, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 323, , , 12, Running, , , 
26) 20, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 95 Procore Toyota, 322, , , 11, Running, , , 
27) 29, Bubba Wallace, No. 43 McDonald's Chevrolet, 322, , , 10, Running, , , 
28) 31, Matt Tifft(#), No. 36 Surface Sunscreen/Tunity Ford, 319, , , 9, Running, , , 
29) 24, Corey LaJoie, No. 32 Old Spice Ford, 319, , , 8, Running, , , 
30) 34, Parker Kligerman(i), No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota, 318, , , 0, Running, , , 
31) 32, Ross Chastain(i), No. 15 Rim Riderz Chevrolet, 313, , , 0, Running, , , 
32) 37, BJ McLeod(i), No. 52 Trick Shot Chevrolet, 313, , , 0, Running, , , 
33) 36, Cody Ware(#), No. 51 Jacob Companies Ford, 303, , , 4, Running, , , 
34) 33, Landon Cassill, No. 00 StarCom Fiber Chevrolet, 284, , , 3, Running, , , 
35) 25, Ryan Preece(#), No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet, 271, , , 2, Accident, , , 
36) 35, Garrett Smithley(i), No. 77 Overkill Motorsports Chevrolet, 254, , , 0, Running, , , 
37) 12, Michael McDowell, No. 34 FR8 Auctions Ford, 222, , , 1, Running, , ,  
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Total Race Length - 325 Laps - 500.5 Miles
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 30 Mins, 33 Secs.
Average Speed: 142.626 MPH
Margin of Victory: .218 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 42, 4, 10, 1, 19, 12, 22, 11, 17, 14
Stage 2 Top 10: 4, 42, 19, 12, 11, 22, 1, 20, 18, 14

Race Comments: Brad Keselowski won the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his 28th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Prior to the start of the race the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated:(#)18 (backup car),(#)77 (multiple inspection failures).

Caution Flags: 5 for 30 laps; Laps: 37-40 (Competition [36]); 87-92 (Stage 1 Conclusion [34]); 172-177 (Stage 2 Conclusion [38]); 223-227 (Debris on Backstretch [41]); 274-282 (Fluid on Pit Road [2]).

Lead Changes: 26 among 9 drivers; A. Almirola 0; R. Stenhouse Jr. 1; A. Almirola 2-37; K. Larson 38-87; M. Truex Jr. 88; K. Harvick 89-91; K. Larson 92; K. Harvick 93-111; K. Larson 112-125; K. Harvick 126; J. Logano 127-128; K. Larson 129-152; K. Harvick 153; K. Larson 154-161; K. Harvick 162-172; M. Truex Jr. 173; K. Harvick 174-177; K. Larson 178-220; M. Truex Jr. 221; K. Larson 222-223; M. Truex Jr. 224; K. Harvick 225-230; R. Blaney 231-271; J. Logano 272-282; K. Busch 283; J. Logano 284-292; B. Keselowski 293-325.

Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2019, Issue 2, Posted 9:43 PM, 02.24.2019