Written by Greg Atkins
RIDGEWAY, V.A. –– Dominant performances like the one Brad Keselowski produced today at Martinsville are extremely rare.
He took the lead from pole sitter and teammate Joey Logano on lap 7 and never looked back.
Keselowski logged a staggering 446 laps led en route to his second victory of the season and his second Ridgeway Grandfather Clock. Keselowski and his team executed their gameplan to perfection and demonstrated their raw speed on the track.
Keselowski commented after the race, “It was a real good day. I think the stats look more dominant than it really was; I think Chase was the best car for most of the day. We were able to learn a few things after he took the lead to come back out and be better for it.”
Seemingly, Keselowski’s only competition was the No. 9 of Chase Elliott given the fact that he was the only driver able to pass the No. 2 on track. Elliott’s short-run speed gave him a shot on the final restart with less than 50 laps to go, but he came up short finishing second.
Elliott, however, was the only real factor in the race from the Hendrick Motorsports stable, which has such a storied history at Martinsville.
Ryan Blaney had, perhaps, the only long-run speed similar to his race-winning teammate, but ultimately he brought home a fourth-place finish.
Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin finished third and fifth, respectively. Busch ran well all day and Hamlin rebounded from an uncontrolled tire violation that relegated him to the back of the pack during the middle of the race. Considering how seemingly challenging it was to pass today, Hamlin’s top-five finish was especially remarkable.
At the end of the day, Keselowski stood head and shoulders over the rest of the field. Considering how much parity there is in NASCAR, one must appreciate a phenomenal performance when they see one.
We certainly saw one of those today.
Up next for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is a trip to Fort Worth, Texas next weekend.
