Brad Keselowski breaks 110-race winless streak at Darlington

The win marks the 36th for Keselowski in his illustrious Cup Series career, which includes the 2012 championship and two appearances in the championship race. 

Keselowski won Sunday's race after Buescher and Reddick got together while racing for the lead, forcing both cars to hit pit road with flat tires. Despite a hungry Ty Gibbs running him down in the final laps, Keselowski held serve to take home his first win as co-owner of RFK Racing. 

"It's one heck of a day," Keselowski said in his post-race interview with Fox's Regan Smith. "Whether it's your first win or your last win, this is a really special track. It's as tough as it gets. That battle with myself, my teammate (Buescher) and (Tyler) Reddick, we were just laying it all on the line. It was freakin' awesome. I thought it couldn't get much better than Kansas, it did today."

Holding his daughter in his arms, Keselowski described the final 10 laps. 

"My car was really good on the long runs. When Tyler got underneath Chris, I knew I had another shot at it, then they made contact and I couldn't get by them. Then they got a flat tire and we caught a break. We've caught enough bad breaks over the past year or two, it's nice to catch a good one."

Keselowski departed from Team Penske following the 2021 season. After driving for Penske for 12 seasons, including his 2012 championship campaign, the move to Roush-Fenway Racing was a peculiar one for fans to think about, even if Keselowski was buying into the organization as an owner. He was leaving an organization that had given him nearly all of his Cup Series success (he even made the championship race just one season prior in 2020). After an abysmal showing in 2022, the critics seemed to be proven right — the grass wasn't greener on the other side. 

2023, however, brought a three-win season and a Round of 8 appearance for RFK driver Chris Buescher. While Keselowski himself didn't win, he also made the Round of 8 and scored 16 top-10 finishes.

After a relatively slow start to 2024, both Buescher and Keselowski have turned up the wick. Buescher came within inches of victory last Sunday at Kansas, and was in contention to win on Sunday until the final eight laps. Keselowski's win is his fifth top-five and third top-two finish of the season, proving that the No. 6 team consistently has winning speed. 

With all the speed that Keselowski has shown this season, breaking his winless streak at Darlington could just be the first step in a deep playoff run. Twenty-three races are still to be run before a champion is determined, but Keselowski should certainly be considered a viable title threat.