Four things we learned after Brad Keselowski snapped drought at Darlington

After a terrible season for Keselowski in 2022, fans and pundits alike thought that the 2012 champion leaving Team Penske was a massive mistake. Taking on an ownership role with Roush-Fenway Racing, Keselowski has since proved his critics wrong as he made the Round of 8 in 2023 before breaking through for a win on Sunday. Add in that his teammate, Chris Buescher, is also contending for wins, and the energy inside the RFK shop is the best it's been since the mid-2000s. Don't be surprised if Keselowski is a championship threat come playoff time. 

Chris Buescher finds another heartbreaking way to lose

Make that two straight weeks with a heartbreaking loss for Buescher, who came within inches of winning last week at Kansas. At Darlington on Sunday, he made a thrilling three-wide move for the lead with under 30 laps to go, but was put in the wall with nine laps remaining after Tyler Reddick tried to pull off a slide-job move for the win. Buescher went from the lead to a 30th-place finish, yelling at Reddick after the race that Reddick needed to "be better." Buescher's speed has been on point over the last two races, but he wants to close the deal any way he can at North Wilkesboro. 

Ford's Mustang "Dark Horse" gets its first victory

Ford hadn't won a race in any of NASCAR's top three series entering the weekend, and after going 0-2 in the Truck and Xfinity races, it seemed like their hope for a Darlington win was running out. Enter Keselowski, who avenged Chris Buescher's heartbreaking loss to put the blue oval into victory lane for the first time in 2024. Ford still has a lot of work to do to be consistent contenders, but it's on the right track after finally winning a race.

Darlington Raceway continues to be one of the best tracks in racing

Daytona and Indianapolis may be more prestigious, but there's hardly any track in any discipline of auto racing that consistently puts out the racing product that Darlington does. From Buescher's wild three-wide move to Reddick and Buescher scraping against the wall, Sunday's race put another chapter of fantastic racing at Darlington in the record books. With September's Southern 500 being the regular season finale, expect the next trip to Darlington to be nothing short of spectacular.