Brad Keselowski scored a seventh-place finish in the Pennzoil 400 Sunday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Keselowski claimed his first top-10 finish of the 2020 season and his 10th in 14 Cup races at Las Vegas. The driver of the Discount Tire Ford Mustang gained 11 positions in the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings to move up to 19th.
Rain washed out Cup qualifying on Saturday Las Vegas, which gave Keselowski the eighth starting position for the 267-lap, 400-mile event. Stage 1 for Keselowski had a consistent theme: a loose handling No. 2 Mustang. He was too loose to run the preferred line up against the outside wall early in the race. Keselowski pitted for four tires and adjustments during the competition caution on lap 27 and restarted sixth on lap 30. Initially the adjustments seemed to work but by lap 54 the loose condition returned, and he was struggling to turn on corner entry. He slipped back through the field and was credited with a 17th-place finish when the stage ended on lap 80. Keselowski pitted on lap 83 during the stage caution for four tires, track bar and air pressure adjustments and restarted 17th when the race went green on lap 87.
During the first run of Stage 2, Keselowski said the balance on the Discount Tire Mustang improving but still building loose and that he was struggling to get the back of the car to stick. He was running 15th when scheduled green flag pit stops began on lap 118 and pitted under green for four tires and a wedge adjustment on lap 122. The No. 2 Mustang initially took off strong after the stops but began to free back up after a handful of laps. Keselowski said the balance was improving but he was still lifting in both ends of the track. He finished 13th when Stage 2 concluded on lap 160. Crew chief Jeremy Bullins called for four tires, wedge and air pressure adjustments during a round of pit stops during the stage caution on lap 163 and Keselowski restarted 13th when the green flag waved on lap 166.
The final segment began with cautions on lap 169 and 177. Keselowski pitted for four tires under yellow on lap 178 and restarted 18th on lap 181. He picked up a handful of positions on the chaotic restart climbed back inside the top-10 on lap 193 thanks to the improved balance on the Discount Tire Ford Mustang. He was up to sixth position when a cycle of green flag stops began on lap 210. Bullins called his driver to pit road on lap 218 for a four-tire stop and two laps later Chase Elliott spun in Turn 1. The timing of the caution dropped Keselowski a lap down, but he took the wave around back to the lead lap and restarted 10th on lap 226.
Keselowski again showed speed early in the run, moving up to fifth position by lap 230. He was sixth when Ross Chastain spun on lap 263 bringing out the eighth caution on lap 263. Bullins and Keselowski decided to pit for right-side tires for the final three-lap dash to the checkered flag. He restarted eight on lap 265 and gained one position before a four-car accident on the final lap forced the race to end under yellow.
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