Brad Keselowski Wins the Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
- Mar 13, 2017
“Well, you know, wins are always special, but early in the season they're really good. You just can't take any wins for granted,” Keselowski said. “I always feel like before a race, you obviously always want to win, and you always wonder yourself when your last win is going to be, and I'm not anywhere near retirement age, but you still think about those things and you think about how tough it just is to win at this level and how lucky you are to have a team to win.” Keselowski led three times for a total of 18 laps to take the checkered flag. He also won 53 points to continue to be in the top 10 of the standings. He is in third place in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup standings with 84 points. “You know, when you win a race like this, you know that there's been three or four of them where you probably lost like this, and they really suck, but this one is going to feel good, and we're going to enjoy it,” Keselowski said.
“Here at Atlanta, I don't do a good enough job up top,” Larson said. “That's why I try to commit myself to the bottom throughout the race. There when I restarted the leader after our Christmas present we got there, and Brad lined up behind me, I knew he was going to be the one to beat. I'd spent a lot of time around him throughout the race, especially on the short runs he was better than I was, and he would always pass me in 1 and 2. I knew I was going to have to try and take his line away. I tried a few times, and he finally kind of guessed where I was going right one lap and got to my inside.” Matt Kenseth finished in third place and did not lead once. Kevin Harvick won both of the stages in the race, and was poised to reach the checkered flag first, if it had not been for a pit-speeding penalty under caution on lap 311, he would not have lost his lead.The penalty knocked him out of first place and he eventually finished in ninth. Harvick led the race on four separate occasions for a total of 292 laps. With both of his stage wins at Atlanta, Harvick has won three stages so far this season, and has three playoff points.
"Yeah, this place, for whatever reason, I just feel like I’m snake-bitten," said Harvick who has not won in Atlanta in his career. "It’s my own doing today. I really didn’t think I was even close on pit lane.” Harvick leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings with 90 points, and three playoff points. Kurt Busch, winner of the Daytona 500, is in second place with 86 points, and five playoff points. Brad Keselowski, winner of the Folds Of Honor QuikTrip 500, is in third place with 84 points and five playoff points. The next race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Kobalt 400. | ||||
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