LINCOLN, Ala. — Brad Keselowski won Sunday’s NASCAR race at Talladega with a last-lap pass of Ford teammate Matt DiBenedetto. He led just one lap of the overtime race.
William Byron finished in second and Michael McDowell finished in third.
With under five laps to go and Matt DiBenedetto in the lead, the caution came out for debris on the track. Part of Martin Truex Jr.’s tire came apart as he was running laps down, forcing an overtime shootout.
DiBenedetto went high rounding Turn 2 after the last restart, and Keselowski had help on the low line with McDowell just behind him. McDowell stayed behind Keselowski through the flag, and said he wasn’t able to get enough momentum pulling off Keselowski to make a pass. DiBenedetto finished in fifth.
HEARTBREAK FOR DIBENEDETTO
The final lap also saw a late wreck by Erik Jones running in the top-10 coming to the start-finish line. Jones wiggled in the middle lane and spun out, sending Ross Chastain into the inside of the field. Both drivers had a shot late in the race for a top finish, but the late crash kept both from their first win of the season.
But the move to the high lane was what foiled DiBenedetto’s chances, and left a path open for Keselowski. DiBenedetto was asked post-race on FOX whether he would make the same move again and said “it’s tough.”
“It’s just all so circumstantial,” said DiBenedetto. “We talked a lot about it before the race. It’s tough. Our day will come...Driving for the Wood Brothers, it really is a dream come true.”
DiBenedetto won the first stage of the race and led 28 laps of the 191-lap event to post one of his best performances of the season, but he’s still seeking a win this year, along with most of the top-10 finishing drivers at Talladega, including Kevin Harvick, Tyler Reddick, Austin Dillon and Cole Custer. Kaz Grala also finished in the top-10, in sixth place, as the driver of the No. 16 for Kaulig Racing.
‘CHRISTMAS’ FOR KESELOWSKI
Keselowski said he didn’t know what to expect on the final lap. He was asked by FOX Sports pit reporter Regan Smith what he was thinking when he saw DiBenedetto’s fortunately-timed move out of his lane.
“Merry Christmas, Regan!” he said.
Keselowski added that he had a couple of opportunities to take the lead but his thought was, “Man, just keep your car in one piece.”
Keselowski was able to do so, and notch his sixth win at Talladega Superspeedway to tie him with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon in wins at the Alabama track. Dale Earnhardt has 10 wins at Talladega, the most at the track.
“To have anything listed with your name next to Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon and Talladega, I think that’s a pretty big deal,” Keselowski said. “I’m super happy and super proud to be there with them.”
LOGANO SOUNDS OFF ON RACING SAFETY
While Keselowski was able to slide through the race safely, massive wrecks characterized the ends of the first two stages. In the final laps of the first stage, Joey Logano’s No. 22 Ford went soaring through the air and over the oncoming car of Bubba Wallace on the backstretch.
Logano’s car was turned by Denny Hamlin, who had Ricky Stenhouse Jr. directly on his back bumper, and turned into the track, flipping over and rolling down the track before settling. Wallace had a front-row view of the carnage.
“I’m telling you, my underwear is worse than the car right now,” Wallace told his team over the radio.
Logano was unharmed, but the roof of his car was destroyed, and the veteran driver delivered some strong words about safety on FOX following the wreck and end of the stage, which was won by DiBenedetto.
“It’s a product of this racing,” Logano said. “On one hand, I’m so proud to drive a Cup car that is safe, that I can go through that like that again and speak about it. One hand I’m mad about being in the crash. The other hand, I’m just happy I’m alive.
“On the other hand I think when are we gonna stop?” Logano continued. “Cause this is dangerous, doing what we’re doing. I got a rollbar in my head, you know what I mean? That’s not OK. I’m one hit away from the same situation as Ryan Newman just went through. I just don’t feel like that’s acceptable.”
Logano didn’t place blame on any single driver for the accident, saying that it was a “product of this racing” with the large spoilers and frequent pushing, but he said that NASCAR and its drivers “have to fix it.”
“Cause someone already got hurt and we’re still doing it, so that’s not real smart,” Logano said.
Keselowski reiterated his Penske teammate’s sentiment in part after the race, saying, “We’ve got to find a way to keep cars on the ground.”
BIG WRECKS TAKE OUT BIG NAMES
Like Logano, Denny Hamlin was another superspeedway expert who struggled at Talladega. Hamlin led laps in the second stage following the incident with Logano, but two pit road speeding penalties in a row put Hamlin a lap down and trying to climb back to the lead.
Hamlin was still trying to pass the leader, Bubba Wallace, and running in the front of the pack when he was part of another major wreck to close the second stage.
Hamlin slammed into the outside wall on the frontstretch after Brad Kewsleowski and Wallace blocked high in the top lane, and the field bunched up. Martin Truex Jr. tapped Hamlin, sending him into the wall. Truex, Byron and Chase Elliott were also collected in the wreck as Wallace won the stage.
Hamlin finished multiple laps down. Last weekend’s race winner Alex Bowman exited the race with damage from the wreck. Keselowski finished the stage in second place, and kept himself in position through the final stage and overtime for his first win of the season.
The next NASCAR Cup race is Sunday, May 2 at Kansas Speedway. The Buschy McBusch Race 400 is scheduled for 3 p.m. on FS1.
