NASCAR Cup Series: Brad Keselowski wins 2018 Bojangles’ Southern 500

Brad Keselowski earned his first victory of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season in the season’s 25th race, the Bojangles’ Southern 500.

Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski entered the 25th race of the 36-race 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Bojangles’ Southern 500, having not won a Cup Series race since he won the round of 12 playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway last October.

Keselowski ended his 29-race win drought by winning the 367-lap race around the 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) egg-shaped Darlington Raceway oval in Darlington, South Carolina in his #2 Ford by 1.224 seconds over teammate Joey Logano in second place in his #22 Ford.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson was the highest finishing Chevrolet driver of the race. He rounded out the top three by finishing in third place in his #42 Chevrolet, which was a major disappointment for him considering the fact that he dominated the race until he was passed by Keselowski in the pits during their final pit stops late in the race. He still has not won a Cup Series race in 2018.

Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch finished the race in fourth and sixth place in their #4 Ford and #41 Ford, respectively. Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott rounded out the top five by finishing in fifth in his #9 Chevrolet.

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Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Erik Jones were the highest finishing Toyota drivers of the race. They finished in seventh and eighth place in their #18 Toyota and #20 Toyota, respectively.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Jamie McMurray and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who started the race from the pole position, rounded out the top 10 by finishing in ninth and 10th place in their #1 Chevrolet and #11 Toyota, respectively.

The race featured a total of seven lead changes among five drivers. Aside of Keselowski, who led 24 laps after starting in 13th place, four other drivers led at least one lap of the race. Those drivers were Logano, Larson, Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. Larson led more laps than anybody else in the field with 284 laps led. He won stages one and two.

The race also featured a total of six caution flag periods, of which four took place as a result of on-track incidents and the other two, as usual, took place as a result of the endings of stages one and two. These six caution flag periods spanned a total of 35 laps of the race.

Of the 40 drivers who started the race, only six failed to finish it. Of the 34 drivers who finished the race, 16 finished it on the lead lap.

Here are the full race results of the 2018 Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

The final race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series regular season is the 26th race of the 36-race season. This race, the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard (traditionally known as the Brickyard 400), is scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 9, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network from Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET.