Out of nowhere, Brad Keselowski wins the NASCAR Supermarket Heroes 500!
“White flag, one to go! Only at Bristol. Unbelievable, unbelievable! Those tires working for Keselowski. He’s going to steal another one! Brad Keselowski wins Bristol.”
WHAT. A. FINISH! Retweet to congratulate Brad @Keselowski on his Bristol win. pic.twitter.com/mMIazXj5qE
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 31, 2020
We honestly think it’s because of his daughter’s send off.
Could she be any cuter?
Sound on for this! Scarlett helping me with today’s Bristol intro song.
Strong message 😉 pic.twitter.com/kq8hVwaQJf— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) May 31, 2020
2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion Joey Logano and last week’s Alsco 500 at Charlotte winner Chase Elliot were battling for the top spot, and collided with three to go, which allowed Keselowski to drive straight to victory lane.
“But this guy is happy with the win. Brad Keselowski said let’s go win 30 more – he is up to 32 on the win list now.”
Brad @Keselowski celebrates his Bristol win! pic.twitter.com/xrJlT9Z1Pp
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 31, 2020
However, the other two guys were not so happy. Logano and Elliot tried to discuss what happened in the final laps, and how neither of them ended up finishing on top.
“Clearly, trying to walk through the steps, explain from each angle, or the perspective that they had. But I’m afraid they are going to have to agree to disagree.”
Chase and Joey discuss the finish. pic.twitter.com/gJNfbCh7nM
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 31, 2020
But we wouldn’t expect many answers, as the day was full of surprises, with caution flags dominating (17 to be exact) making it a wild day in Tennessee – our first time drivers raced outside of North and South Carolina since the return to the track.
With the first stage nearing its end, our winner, Keselowski, was overtaken by his teammate, No. 12 Ford Mustang driver Ryan Blaney, for the top spot.
New leader: Ryan @Blaney! pic.twitter.com/VTyou0DQYY
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 31, 2020
It wasn’t for long though, as Elliot, who ended wrecked and broken hearted right before the finish came in No. 1 in Stage 1 and Stage 2.
“And Chase Elliot has swept the first two stages here. Fifth stage win of 2020, that’s as many as he had in all of last season.”
Chase Elliott makes it a sweep of stages at Bristol. Can he finish the deal and win two Cup races in less than four days? pic.twitter.com/AtSlbvr8Bc
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) May 31, 2020
At Lap 200, we hit big trouble.
“Running second to teammate Keselowski, going for the lead, Blaney wrecked and No. 13 Chevrolet Camaro driver Ty Dillon hit him on the tail end.
“Brawling with his teammate Brad Keselowski for the lead. You see that high line – he just jumps over the edge, that’s what I talked about you know there’s great speed and great grip up there.”
Big trouble! Ryan Blaney goes around and Ty Dillon slams into him. pic.twitter.com/8TNXyO8m3l
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 31, 2020
With heavy damage to the front of Blaney’s Ford, his day was done, and unfortunately, Dillon’s day was too.
Blaney expressed his feelings after his day on the track was cut short.
“That’s just Bristol. Probably shouldn’t have been pushing that hard, but trying to get back to the lead, thought we found some speed up there – just a mistake on my part … after having two strong weeks, and you go and you wreck not even halfway. So that’s just a bummer.”
“We got destroyed …”- Ryan Blaney pic.twitter.com/OYrlDq97BT
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 31, 2020
But that was only a taste of what was to come.
Future Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson came off of turn two, and made contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., triggering a big one – Stenhouse, No. 88 Chevy driver Alex Bowman, Stewart-Haas Racing driver Cole Custer, two NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Tyler Reddick and among others were involved.
“Oh, big wreck!”
Big crash at Bristol! pic.twitter.com/LQX4xASctq
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 31, 2020
After the largest wreck of the day, Custer was disappointed, but he already has his sights set on the next one, and what his team can do.
Ouch… I guess that’s Bristol… Real shame because our guys made some good adjustments the last stop and I feel like we were better than where we were running. We’ll move onto the next one! Have to thank everyone @StewartHaasRcng for building safe race cars!@Haas_Automation https://t.co/8iSCq7kK1l
— Cole Custer (@ColeCuster) May 31, 2020
After that the cautions kept coming until the bitter end, but the drivers, despite their disappointment, are already gearing up for next Sunday.
“Hate that we have to wait a full week now, we don’t get to race mid-week – see if we can’t put that Camero up in the Top 5 and compete for another win next weekend. These boys are working hard, we won’t quit. And I’m looking forward to it.”
Bummed on the result but pumped for the speed we have had last two weeks 💪🏽💪🏽 @JTGRacing @kroger @NosEnergyDrink pic.twitter.com/CFMnvlvXzL
— Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (@StenhouseJr) May 31, 2020
Even with all the yellow flags flying, it was still a great day for some of our drivers.
No. 34 Ford Mustang driver Michael McDowell shared his excitement over his finish at Bristol.
“Well, we had a great run today going at Bristol. Pretty close to the Top 10 – just got together with the 19 and the 10 when they made contact, and had some damage. But we covered alright – got a few spots back at the end. Bristol has been tough for us, so to be competitive and run up front was good.”
Solid day for our No. 34 team!
Had to overcome a lot of adversity after being collected in a mid-race collision.
Thank you to @LovesTravelStop for coming on board with us at @BMSupdates and thank you to my guys on pit road keeping us in the fight! P14 at the 🏁. pic.twitter.com/K9skstNInY
— Michael McDowell (@Mc_Driver) May 31, 2020
And we enjoyed it as much as some of our drivers did.
I love @BMSupdates
I love @NASCAR
I’m having a great Sunday. 🏁
I won a Busch race there one day.
I also broke their gate once. 🇺🇸
Thanks for the action @NASCARONFOX @FS1— Michael Waltrip (@MW55) May 31, 2020
We’re a little sad we have to wait a full week for more racing, but we’ll see you next Sunday!
