Keselowski Wins the Southern 500

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Brad Keselowski won the Bojangles’ Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway on Sunday night.

Keselowski snapped a 25-race winless streak and locked himself into the Playoffs with the victory.

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Keselowski was running second late in the race, but his pit crew gave him the lead following the final caution.  He was able to pull away from Joey Logano and Kyle Larson over the final 20-lap run and head to victory lane.

Keselowski said it was a testament to his team for getting him out front when it counted.

“The 42 [of Larson] was really strong; probably whoever came off pit road first was going to win the race, but my team nailed the last pit stop,” Keselowski said.  “We probably didn’t have the long-run speed we needed, but on short runs it was great.  We were there when it counted.”

After winning one of NASCAR’s Crown Jewel events, Keselowski said the win was the biggest of his career.

“The Southern 500 has always been a major…this has got to be the biggest,” Keselowski said.  “I didn’t know coming into today if we were going to be fast enough to win; as soon as they dropped the green I knew this thing was good.”

Larson dominated most of the evening and led a race-high 284 laps, but he settled for a third-place finish.  After losing the lead before the final restart, Larson said the handling on his car went away.

“All day, whenever I’d get in traffic, I’d get loose…and I was just really loose behind Keselowski,” Larson said.  “It’s always important to come off the leader on pit road so you can be the control car on the restart.”

Unofficial results:

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Joey Logano

3. Kyle Larson

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Chase Elliott

6. Kurt Busch

7. Kyle Busch

8. Erik Jones

9. Jamie McMurray

10. Denny Hamlin

11. Martin Truex Jr.

12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

13. Chris Buescher

14. Aric Almirola

15. Ryan Blaney

16. Austin Dillon

17. Paul Menard

18. David Ragan

19. Ryan Newman

20. Michael McDowell

21. Ty Dillon

22. AJ Allmendinger

23. Alex Bowman

24. Kasey Kahne

25. Matt Kenseth

26. Darrell Wallace Jr.

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Ross Chastain

29. Daniel Suarez

30. Landon Cassill

31. JJ Yeley

32. BJ McLeod

33. Derrike Cope

34. Jeffrey Earnhardt

35. William Byron

36. Clint Bowyer

37. Timmy Hill

38. Matt DiBenedetto

39. Jimmie Johnson

40. Joey Gase

Sarah Crabill/Getty Images