Brad Keselowski Holds Off Chase Elliott to Win NASCAR at Martinsville
March 24, 2019
Brad Keselowski led for 446 of 500 laps en route to winning the STP 500 on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia.
Keselowski held off Chase Elliott, who led 49 laps and finished second, for the win.
Kyle Busch took third on the .526-mile track, which is the shortest on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series circuit.
Here's a look at the top-10 results as well as highlights and reaction.
Top 10 Results
1. Brad Keselowski
2. Chase Elliott
3. Kyle Busch
4. Ryan Blaney
5. Denny Hamlin
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Clint Bowyer
8. Martin Truex Jr.
9. Aric Almirola
10. Daniel Suarez
Full results can be found on NASCAR.com.
Keselowski Dominates Martinsville
Keselowski earned his second win of the season in dominant fashion.
He passed pole-winner Joey Logano after six laps and was in first for 89 percent of the race. Dustin Long of NBC Sports put Keselowski's day in an historical perspective:
Keselowski also set a record for the most laps led at Martinsville in the NASCAR modern era, per NASCAR Alerts:
His crew deserves much credit as well, a point noted by NASCAR Twitter:
Naturally, a celebration needed to ensue, and Keselowski performed one with an epic blowout:
Racing writer Jeff Gluck put a bow on the winner's afternoon:
Chase Elliott Holds Off Kyle Busch for 2nd, But Busch Still No. 1 in Standings
The 23-year-old Elliott has racked up three top-10 finishes in the Monster Energy Cup standings over the past three years, and he's going to make it four-for-four if he continues to drive like he did on Sunday.
Elliott proved to be Keselowski's biggest threat, even taking the lead at one point. While he didn't end up winning, Elliott did hold off the early Monster Cup Series champion favorite in Busch for second.
He almost didn't even make it that far, however, as Elliott nearly got into a wreck with Jeb Burton in the No. 52 car in Stage 1:
Per Kelly Crandall of RACER, Elliott assumed Burton would let him through:
There was no harm, though, and Elliott eventually took a brief lead from Keselowski following a restart:
He did fall back to second and did an excellent job holding off Busch to stay there:
However, Busch eventually took second, forcing Elliott to make a move to regain a top-two position. After a late-stage restart, Elliott did so:
The race marks Elliott's first top-five finish of the year.
Busch may have not won, but he registered another excellent 2019 performance. He entered Sunday first in the Monster Cup standings, and he'll stay there after finishing third at Martinsville.
He's already earned two wins, five top-five finishes and six top-10 results in six races. Busch is also No. 1 in stage wins with four.
Matt Weaver of Autoweek captured a post-race interview Busch held with reporters, and he gave heavy credit to his crew chief Adam Stevens and his team for the performance:
At this rate, Busch will be named NASCAR's champion for the second time in five years.
What's Next?
The O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 is next on the schedule at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Start time is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on Sunday.