Brad Keselowski earned his best finish of the season Sunday afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway, driving the Violet Defense Ford to a fifth-place finish.
“We were solid all day,” Keselowski said. “Great stops and the car was really solid. We weren’t in a spot to dominate the race but we were in a spot to run up front all day and that is what we did. We are starting to gel and click as a team. It is exciting for RFK and I am really happy for Violet Defense and everybody on the team.”
Keselowski and the No. 6 team began the day from the ninth spot just behind teammate Chris Buescher as the duo both advanced to the final round of qualifying for the third time this season.
The opening stage of 80 laps saw just one caution, one for a spin on lap 30 when Keselowski ran 10th. The break offered the first opportunity for pit stops as the No. 6 team gained four spots on pit road with Keselowski restarting sixth on the ensuing restart.
He held onto the eighth spot to end the first stage, and again gained four positions on pit lane, this time restarting inside the top five to begin the second stage. A green-flag pit cycle split the stage up with Keselowski pitting at lap 122, and some 20 laps later he ran fifth. He maintained that position when the caution was displayed with just five to go in the stage, and went on to finish the segment in fifth.
The Michigan native fired off eighth with 97 to go to begin the final stage. He was shuffled back to 12thwith 75 to go, and was on the right end of a caution that flew with 56 to go as the green-flag cycle had just begun. He was seventh at the time of the caution and restarted in the same spot with 51 to go. One final caution occurred with 23 to go with Keselowski in sixth, and after restarting fifth with 17 to go, he hung onto the position to collect the top five, his first of 2022, and sixth top-10 overall.
Martinsville is up next on the schedule with a 500-mile race set for next Sunday afternoon.
“I am really looking forward to Martinsville,” Keselowski added. “We had a great test there just like we did here at Homestead. I really want to get a win before this year is over. If we keep building momentum like this I think we can do that.”
Race coverage next Sunday is set for 2 p.m. ET on NBC. Radio coverage can be heard on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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