Brad Keselowski had a great shot to win at Talladega on October 6th, 2024, but his luck ran out just at the line. In a three-wide photo finish, the No. 6 NASCAR Ford Mustang Dark Horse lost out, finishing in the runner-up spot just 0.006 seconds behind the leader.
A late-race wreck that took out a whopping 27 race cars forced a red flag and reset the field for a NASCAR Overtime finish. That wreck damaged eight of the 12 Playoff drivers, including a few from the NASCAR Ford stable. A chain reaction put Harrison Burton’s No. 21 Mustang into the back of Joey Logano’s No. 22 Mustang, which in turn forced Keselowski’s race car right into the back of the No. 2 Mustang of Austin Cindric. Cindric spun into the pack and collected over two dozen race cars before they finally came to a halt in the infield.
Keselowski managed to outrun the mayhem and restarted on the front row alongside the No. 47 Chevy Camaro ZL1 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The two traded the top spot until the checkered flag flew, when Stenhouse got the advantage by working the center lane and ultimately won the race.
“I just didn’t have enough,” Keselowski said after the race. “Just wanted to get a good push from the 5 [Kyle Larson], but it just wasn’t good enough.”
Cindric finished 33rd after the wreck, putting him in a dire situation heading into the Charlotte Roval next weekend if he wants to survive to the Round of 8.
“Obviously incredibly frustrated,” Cindric said. “Just really proud of my team and the full execution of the day. We got that stage win [second stage] and put ourselves at the front of that green flag pit cycle and had another shot [to win].”
He added, “I don’t feel like complaining right now, I’m too pissed off and it won’t do anything. But proud of the team. We’ve brought really fast race cars to every single race of the Playoffs and we’re going to have to bring another one next week and I need to go out and do my job.”
Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Mustang, is currently below the cutline, having finished 39th after a wreck.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 32 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger Health/Palmolive Chevrolet | 195 | 19 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 2 | 13 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | BuildSubmarines.com Ford | 195 | 2 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 3 | 16 | 24 | William Byron (P) | RaptorTough.com Chevrolet | 195 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 12 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 195 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 5 | 30 | 43 | Erik Jones | Dollar Tree Toyota | 195 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 6 | 21 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | DEWALT Toyota | 195 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 7 | 35 | 7 | Justin Haley | Gainbridge Chevrolet | 195 | 4 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 7 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet | 195 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 26 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | U.S. Air Force Toyota | 195 | 3 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 10 | 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | FedEx One Rate Toyota | 195 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 11 | 24 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 195 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 12 | 34 | 15 | Cody Ware | Arby's Ford | 195 | 1 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 13 | 15 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Monster Energy Toyota | 195 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 14 | 37 | 77 | Carson Hocevar # | Delaware Life Chevrolet | 195 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 17 | 16 | Shane Van Gisbergen(i) | WeatherTech Chevrolet | 195 | 9 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 16 | 23 | 48 | Alex Bowman (P) | Ally Chevrolet | 195 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 17 | 20 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Nexletol Ford | 195 | 12 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 18 | 28 | 51 | Corey LaJoie | Mighty Fire Breaker Ford | 195 | 5 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 19 | 4 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Lucas Oil Chevrolet | 195 | 7 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 14 | 45 | Tyler Reddick (P) | Nasty Beast Toyota | 195 | 2 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 21 | 39 | 71 | Zane Smith # | Focused Health Chevrolet | 195 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 22 | 38 | 78 | * BJ McLeod(i) | Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet | 195 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 23 | 3 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Georgia Peanuts Commission Ford | 194 | 2 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 24 | 33 | 62 | * Anthony Alfredo(i) | Fortify Building Solutions Chevrolet | 194 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 25 | 22 | 10 | Noah Gragson | Beef A Roo Ford | 194 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 26 | 31 | 99 | Daniel Suarez (P) | Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet | 194 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 27 | 40 | 44 | * JJ Yeley(i) | Epoxy Depot Chevrolet | 193 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 25 | 13 | * AJ Allmendinger(i) | Strive Chevrolet | 193 | 9 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 29 | 11 | 9 | Chase Elliott (P) | Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet | 190 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 36 | 14 | Chase Briscoe (P) | Rush Truck Centers Ford | 189 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 31 | 29 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | GearWrench Toyota | 188 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 32 | 2 | 2 | Austin Cindric (P) | Discount Tire Ford | 183 | 29 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 33 | 6 | 22 | Joey Logano (P) | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 183 | 19 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 34 | 9 | 21 | Harrison Burton | DEX Imaging Ford | 183 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 35 | 18 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Wonder Bread Ford | 183 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 36 | 19 | 4 | Josh Berry # | SunnyD Ford | 183 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 37 | 1 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 183 | 42 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 38 | 10 | 31 | Daniel Hemric | Cirkul Chevrolet | 183 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 39 | 5 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Menards/Pennzoil Ford | 124 | 6 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 40 | 27 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Busch Light Camo Chevrolet | 120 | 17 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
P – Playoffs eligible
No Comments yet