Brad Keselowski rebounded from a tough couple of races with a top-10 finish Sunday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway. Keselowski, a native of Rochester Hills, Michigan, earned a ninth-place result to mark his 10th top-10 effort of the season. He remains 10th in NASCAR Cup Series driver standings, now 275 points behind leader Kyle Larson.
Keselowski started 20th in the 200-lap event, and the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang steadily moved through the field to score a 10th-place finish in Stage 1. Keselowski reported that the balance on the Discount Tire Ford was just a little free in the center of the corners early on. On lap 55, Keselowski passed teammate Ryan Blaney for the seventh position and stayed there until the stage concluded on lap 60. Keselowski pitted during the stage caution for four tires and restarted eighth when the race restarted on lap 66.
In Stage 2, Keselowski continued to run consistently among the leaders. The balance on the No. 2 Mustang was very good on the longer runs but simply too free at the beginning. Crew chief Jeremy Bullins made the call for Keselowski to pit for left-side tires under the green flag on lap 112, eight laps before the end of the stage. Keselowski was credited with sixth-place when the segment concluded. As the stage ended, Keselowski made contact with Austin Dillion while the two battled for position. The driver of the Discount Tire Ford pitted during the stage caution for four tires and repairs to the left-front of his car and took the green flag restart from the 26th position on lap 126.
The third and final stage saw Keselowski rally back into contention for a top-10 finish. He stayed out on track longer than others on the lead lap and led laps 168-173 before making his scheduled green flag stop. On lap 183, he pitted again for four tires and restarted 18th as the first car with fresh tires. Keselowski avoided a seven-car accident on lap 188 and he survived a frantic restart with eight laps to go to claim his top-10 finish.
“We were really good in the sun. Those scattered clouds at the end took away a little too much handling, I think. We had a pretty good Discount Tire Ford overall,” said Keselowski. “I am a little bummed though. I wanted, of course, to get a win, and I hate that I had that contact with the 3. That really sucks for everybody. It really hurt our day and obviously ruined his.”
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