Brad Keselowski scored a solid, yet undramatic fourth-place finish in the NASCAR All-Star race Wednesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Keselowski drew the ninth-place starting position and had a close call on lap eight, when contact with Kurt Busch caused Busch to spin directly in front of the Discount Tire Ford Mustang at the entrance to turn 1. Keselowski would recover to finish the first 55-lap segment of the race in eighth position, despite losing the turn at the 2/3-mark of the corner.
Crew chief Jeremy Bullins made the call to pit during the stage caution for four tires and an air pressure adjustment and Keselowski restarted sixth when the race went back to green.
Keselowski fell in line fifth and stayed there for much of Stage 2, but made a pass around Alex Bowman with four laps to go to take fourth as the second segment concluded on lap 90. Bullins once again made the call to pit, this time for left-side tires during the stage caution and Keselowski remained fourth for the restart.
In Stage 3, Keselowski ran second for much of the segment and held off Kyle Busch in a spirited battle for position. He said his No. 2 Mustang was free off the corner and tight in the center.
Keselowski chose the bottom lane for the final restart, moving him inside leader Chase Elliott for the 15-lap dash to the checkered flag. Unfortunately, the final restart wasn’t kind to Keselowski, who fell in line fourth. He briefly moved up to third, but slipped back to fourth when the checkered flag flew after 140 laps.
“We had a solid night in our Discount Tire Ford and great strategy by Jeremy Bullins,” said Keselowski. “The 9 car (Chase Elliott) was dominant but we gave him all we had.”
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