NASCAR Cup Series: Brad Keselowski wins 2019 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500

Brad Keselowski held off Martin Truex Jr. to win the second race of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski battled a stomach illness throughout the course of this weekend that resulted in his status for the second race of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, at Atlanta Motor Speedway being in question.

Team Penske Xfinity Series driver Austin Cindric was Keselowski’s backup in case he could not compete in this race. These two drivers split time in Saturday’s final practice session for the race. But Keselowski battled through this illness to not only compete in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 but to win it.

Keselowski won the 325-lap race around the four-turn, 1.54-mile (2.478-kilometer) high-banked Atlanta Motor Speedway oval in Hampton, Georgia after starting it in 19th place in his #2 Ford. He held off Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., who finished in second in his #78 Toyota, by just 0.218 seconds to take the victory, which is his first victory of the season.

Truex Jr. made a late charge in an attempt to take the lead and thus the victory from Keselowski, as he reduced what was once a fairly sizable gap between the two drivers, but he ultimately came up just short.

More from NASCAR Cup Series

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch was the highest finishing Chevrolet driver of the race. He finished in third place in his #1 Chevrolet. Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five by finishing in fourth and fifth in their #4 Ford and #14 Ford, respectively.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch battled back from a flat tire earlier in the race to finish in sixth place in his #18 Toyota just ahead of teammate Erik Jones, who finished in seventh in his #20 Toyota. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola, who started the race from the pole position, finished in eighth in his #10 Ford after rallying back from an early penalty that sent him to the back of the lead lap as a result of the fact that he was speeding in the pits.

JTG Daugherty Racing’s Chris Buescher and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Daniel Suarez rounded out the top 10 by finishing in ninth and 10th place in their #37 Chevrolet and #41 Ford, respectively. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who won the 61st annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway last Sunday, finished in 11th in his #11 Toyota.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson appeared to be in the best position to win the race after starting it in seventh place and leading 142 of its first 223 laps, but he was penalized for speeding in the pits and forced to go to the back of the lead lap as a result of it. He was unable to recover from this penalty, as he ended up finishing in 12th in his #42 Chevrolet.

The race featured a total of 26 lead changes among nine drivers. Aside of Keselowski, who led 33 laps of the race, eight other drivers led at least one lap of it. Those drivers were Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Harvick, Almirola, Larson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano. Larson led more laps than anybody else in the field with 142 laps led. He won stage one while Harvick won stage two.

The race also featured a total of five caution flag periods, although only two of them took place as a result of on-track incidents. Two of the other three took place as a result of the usual endings of stages one and two and the other one was a competition caution that took place as a result of the fact that the track had been rained on overnight. In total, these five caution flag periods spanned 30 laps.

Of the 37 drivers who started the race, 36 finished it, and of the 36 drivers who finished it, 17 finished it on the lead lap.

Here are the full race results of the 2019 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Race Results
1st – Brad Keselowski
2nd – Martin Truex Jr.
3rd – Kurt Busch
4th – Kevin Harvick
5th – Clint Bowyer
6th – Kyle Busch
7th – Erik Jones
8th – Aric Almirola
9th – Chris Buescher
10th – Daniel Suarez
11th – Denny Hamlin
12th – Kyle Larson
13th – Ryan Newman
14th – Paul Menard
15th – Alex Bowman
16th – David Ragan
17th – William Byron
18th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
19th – Chase Elliott
20th – Daniel Hemric
21st – Austin Dillon
22nd – Ryan Blaney
23rd – Joey Logano
24th – Jimmie Johnson
25th – Ty Dillon
26th – Matt DiBenedetto
27th – Darrell Wallace Jr.
28th – Matt Tifft
29th – Corey LaJoie
30th – Parker Kligerman
31st – Ross Chastain
32nd – B.J. McLeod
33rd – Cody Ware
34th – Landon Cassill
35th – Ryan Preece
36th – Garrett Smithley
37th – Michael McDowell

Next. Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark

The next race on the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube, which is scheduled to take place next Sunday, March 3. It is set to be broadcast live from Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Home/NASCAR Cup Series