No. 6 – Brad Keselowski

Riding momentum from a 5th-place finish in last week’s Coca-Cola 600, Brad Keselowski started strong at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday night. He rolled off sixth in pursuit of his 37th career win. Throughout most of the first stage, the Solomon Plumbing Ford consistently ran inside the top 10. As the laps wore on in the 90-lap segment, which ran caution-free, it became clear that track position would play a key role. Keselowski and Crew Chief Jeremy Bullins began devising ways to implement strategy and increase performance in the ensuing stages. Though Keselowski slipped to 13th by the end of Stage One, confidence remained high, with Bullins assuring him, “We’ll keep digging. We’ll be alright.”

Stage Two at Nashville brought challenges for the No. 6, but the team showed resilience throughout. After an early caution on lap 106, Keselowski pitted for two tires. However, as John Hunter Nemechek was entering his pit stall and Keselowski was exiting, the two collided. Fortunately, the car avoided major damage. A string of cautions followed, and on lap 130, contact from Corey Heim pushed Keselowski into the wall, forcing an unscheduled stop for quick repairs. Despite dropping to 32nd, Brad stayed focused, providing detailed feedback as the team worked to improve the car’s handling. With half the race still ahead, the team remained determined to fight back in the final stage.

Stage Three required strategy and perseverance. After taking extra time during the stage break for splitter repairs, Keselowski restarted 30th but quickly began moving forward, climbing to 27th as the car fired off with more strength than earlier in the race. With intensity building on a lap 199 restart, Keselowski steadily advanced to 23rd. As green-flag pit stops began, the No. 6 team rolled the dice, keeping Brad on track as long as possible in hopes of a timely caution. The strategy vaulted him to the lead with 34 laps to go. Unfortunately, the caution never came, and Brad had to pit on lap 267, dropping him back to 23rd, where he would ultimately finish.

“A long night,” said Keselowski, who had worked through multiple points of adversity. “We got run off the track several times and it got us in a hole that we couldn’t get out of.”