NASCAR: Brad Keselowski wins after Chase Elliott pits from lead

Another potential NASCAR Cup Series win got away from Chase Elliott at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and this time Brad Keselowski was the beneficiary.

For the second NASCAR Cup Series race in a row, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott was in a position to win in the closing laps, this time after overcoming both a pit road speeding penalty and an earlier call not to pit that dropped him to the tail end of the lead lap.

And for the second race in a row, he came up short.

At Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600, just four days after the collision between Elliott and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, it was Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski who took advantage of Elliott’s misfortune.

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Keselowski, who started the race in 35th place as a result of unapproved adjustments which were made to his #2 Ford after he qualified in ninth, took advantage of a late caution flag period to stay out on the track while Elliott came into the pits for new tires and dropped to 11th place for the restart in overtime with two laps remaining.

There were just over two laps remaining in what was initially scheduled to be a 400-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Concord, North Carolina when Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron spun his #24 Chevrolet as a result of a flat tire. Elliott had a sizable lead over Keselowski at the time.

That sent the race into overtime, and it ended up being a 405-lap event.

Elliott’s car was by far the quickest among the lead pack when the green flag flew again on lap 404, but with nine cars in between his #9 Chevrolet and Keselowski’s #2 Ford, he simply needed another overtime period to catch up.

Without another caution flag period, he simply couldn’t do it, and had to settle for third place, as Keselowski secured Ford’s first Coca-Cola 600 win since 2002 in what turned out to be the longest race in NASCAR history. This win is Keselowski’s first in over a year, as he last won at Kansas Speedway in May of 2019.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson placed second in his #48 Chevrolet, his best finish since he last won at Dover International Speedway in June of 2017. He finished 0.293 seconds behind Keselowski.

UPDATE: JIMMIE JOHNSON DISQUALIFIED AT CHARLOTTE

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney finished in fourth place in his #12 Ford ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch in fifth in his #18 Toyota. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, who ran outside of the top 10 for much of the race, came away with a solid sixth place finish in his #4 Ford.

Through seven races this season, Harvick has yet to finish lower than ninth. While he only has one win thus far, he leads the championship standings due to his impressive consistency.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch, Richard Childress Racing rookie Tyler Reddick and Leavine Family Racing rookie Christopher Bell rounded out the top 10, finishing in seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #19 Toyota, #1 Chevrolet, #8 Chevrolet and #95 Toyota, respectively.

This race featured 20 lead changes among 11 leaders. Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman dominated the race, winning the first two of four stages, but he fell back from the front of the pack to a massively disappointing 20th place in his #88 Chevrolet following the final restart.

Team Penske’s Joey Logano, who finished in 14th place after a late penalty dropped his #22 Ford to the rear, won stage three in NASCAR’s lone four-stage race of the season.

Kurt Busch started the race from the pole position and led 54 laps, third behind Bowman with 164 and Truex with 87. The race’s other leaders were Johnson, Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto, Front Row Motorsports’ John Hunter Nemechek and JTG Daugherty Racing teammates Ryan Preece and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Keselowski led only 21 laps en route to taking the checkered flag.

This race featured eight caution flag periods, including one that led to a red flag period of over one hour due to rain, and 37 of the 40 drivers who started the event finished it. Of those 37 drivers, 20 finished on the lead lap.

Here are the full race results of the 2020 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Race results
1st – Brad Keselowski
2nd – Jimmie Johnson
3rd – Chase Elliott
4th – Ryan Blaney
5th – Kyle Busch
6th – Kevin Harvick
7th – Martin Truex Jr.
8th – Kurt Busch
9th – Tyler Reddick
10th – Christopher Bell
11th – Chris Buescher
12th – Erik Jones
13th – Cole Custer
14th – Joey Logano
15th – Austin Dillon
16th – Aric Almirola
17th – John Hunter Nemechek
18th – Matt DiBenedetto
19th – Michael McDowell
20th – Alex Bowman
21st – William Byron
22nd – Ross Chastain
23rd – Ryan Preece
24th – Corey LaJoie
25th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
26th – Ty Dillon
27th – Matt Kenseth
28th – Ryan Newman
29th – Daniel Suarez
30th – Denny Hamlin
31st – Brennan Poole
32nd – Gray Gaulding
33rd – B.J. McLeod
34th – Garrett Smithley
35th – Timmy Hill
36th – Quin Houff
37th – Joey Gase
38th – J.J. Yeley
39th – Bubba Wallace
40th – Clint Bowyer

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The next race on the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is scheduled to take place this Wednesday, May 27, also at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This race, the Alsco Uniforms 500, is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET.

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