Goodyear 400: Keselowski ends 110-race winless streak, Buescher and Reddick feud at Darlington

DARLINGTON, S.C. – For the first time in 1,113 days and 110 races, Brad Keselowski finally found himself back in NASCAR Cup Series Victory Lane, earning his first win as an owner/driver for RFK Racing in the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway.

Keselowski earned 57 of 60 points, driving in a throwback paint scheme to an iconic Castrol car in Japan’s Super GT Series, the Castrol TOM’s Supra. Keselowski could not be happier as he got to take home the checkered flag and get the American flag back out for his trademark victory celebration.

“What a heck of a day,” Keselowski said. “It’s Darlington, so whether it’s your first win, your last win, this is a really special track. The history of NASCAR, it’s as tough as it gets, and that battle at the end with my teammate (Chris Buescher) (and) Tyler Reddick, we just laid it all out on the line, it was freaking awesome.

“I thought it couldn’t get much better than Kansas. It did today. That was awesome. I’m so glad you guys got to see that. That was incredible, thanks for being here.”

Tyler Reddick dominated most of the day, leading a career-high 174 laps as he won Stage 2. Reddick and Chris Buescher were battling hard, which led to some late-race drama in South Carolina.

Reddick made a move underneath Buescher in Turn 3, drifted up the track into the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford and damaged both cars as Keselowski sailed past them into the lead in the final laps.

Brad Keselowski’s victory at Darlington was the first NASCAR national series win for Ford in 2024. The manufacturer went 33 races before finally finding Victory Lane this season. Keselowski’s win is also the first time an owner/driver has won in the Cup Series in his own equipment since Tony Stewart at Sonoma in 2016.

According to statistician Trey Ryan, Justin Haley’s ninth-place finish is the best finish for a Rick Ware Racing Cup car on a non-drafting track.

“We had a really good Rick Ware Racing 51 Ford Mustang Dark Horse today,” Haley said. “From the moment we unloaded it was just super on the track and fast and kind of followed suit with the 6’s setup and it happened that he won and we had a good race. Overall, it was a good day. We had great execution on pit road. I feel like we cleaned up a lot of stuff and got a top 10 for Rick Ware. It was a good points day.”

Alex Bowman has four straight top-10 finishes, which is currently the most in the Cup Series.

The Goodyear 400 marked the 17th straight race where Denny Hamlin has led at least one lap. Although it was just one lap (Lap 240), that ties Kyle Busch for the longest streak ever by an active driver at the premier level.

Tyler Reddick (174) and Bubba Wallace (six) combined to lead 180 laps, which is the most laps 23XI Racing has ever led in a single race as an organization.