Brad Keselowski drove his No. 2 Penske Ford Mustang to a hard-fought win in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch was the highest-finishing Chevy driver, crossing the finish line third.
Keselowski, who missed practice on Saturday after falling ill with the flu and won the race while still suffering symptoms, crossed the finish line .218 seconds ahead of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Martin Truex Jr.
The race ran relatively incident-free until the closing stages, when a strange clash between Ryan Preece and B.J. McLeod on pit road brought out the caution and altered the course of the race. A subsequent restart on Lap 283 allowed Keselowski to pull out a gap on the field, but Truex then began to reel the Ford driver in as he dealt with an overheating engine and worn tires.
Keselowski managed to hold off the Toyota driver to give the new Mustang its first NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series win and to become the winningest Penske Racing driver of all time with 61 victories.
“But what a tremendous honor, (to beat Donohue’s record)” Keselowski told NASCAR post-race. “This day is … Wow, I don’t even know how to put it in 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.”
The only other Chevrolet driver in the Top 10 apart from Busch was Chris Buescher, who finished ninth in his No. 37 Camaro ZL1. Kyle Larson, who appeared to have the strongest car on track, finished 12th after incurring a speeding penalty on Lap 224. Larson led a race-high 142 of 325 laps before the penalty sent him to the back of the pack.
Click here to view full results from the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. The 2019 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series will continue with the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 3rd.
(source: NASCAR)
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