NASCAR Martinsville Speedway recap: Brad Keselowski scores signature win

Martinsville Speedway is the oldest track on the Cup Series schedule, first opening its doors 70 years ago. It’s challenging to navigate due to its tight confines and emphasis on saving tires, brakes, and the car itself, highlighting a driver’s skillset like few other tracks. That’s why the list of winners who’ve had repeated success here reads like a who’s who of NASCAR.

Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Cale Yarborough, and Dale Earnhardt Sr. all have won three or more premier series championships, and each has won no fewer than six times on the historic Virginia half-mile. That’s not a coincidence. It’s the kind of place where great drivers win and do so regularly.

That’s why Brad Keselowski, who normally prefers not to display his trophies inside his home, is going to make an exception and proudly showcase the traditional grandfather clock that Martinsville awards for winning Sunday’s STP 500. It marked his first track win, and the meaning wasn’t lost.

“This one is going at my house,” Keselowski said. “That’s how special it is. I’m looking forward to bringing that one home and hoping I can add a few more clocks along the way.”

A one-time series champion himself (2012), Keselowski has openly spoken of how important a second title would be personally. How it would validate his career, and provide another testament that he’s deserving of a place in the pantheon of the sport’s elite.

Winning at Martinsville isn’t a championship, but it is a signature victory on an iconic track that Keselowski now has on his résumé — something to point at proudly with a sense of great accomplishment.

“The legacy of this sport is attached to tracks like Martinsville, that makes them special places,” Keselowski said. “For me, of course, you want to win everywhere you go. You wouldn’t be a competitor if you didn’t feel that way. But there is something extra that is added when you win at tracks tied to the legacy of the sport and tied to the legacy of NASCAR.”

That importance is signified in a tweet Keselowski posted Saturday night, “Can’t sleep, thinking about tomorrow @MartinsvilleSwy. We have been so good here lately and should be again. We are due.”

Keselowski’s feeling of being due was justified when you consider he had finished fifth or better in three of the past four Martinsville races, and the one outlier finish came when he was collected in a crash while running second.

“Sometimes you just go to races time over time, and you know you’ve ran so well here, and you just know that it’s eventually going to come together,” Keselowski said following his 23rd career victory. “I mean, it can’t not come together.”

Proving prophetic, on Sunday he again emerged as a contender, even when an early pit road penalty for speeding required he rally back through the field toward the front. Once back near the lead, Keselowski then had to outduel Kyle Busch, who led a race-high 274 laps, and over the final 100 laps the two would exchange the lead five times.

That it came down to Keselowski and Busch, two rivals with a checkered history whose teams have had several on- and off-track run-ins in recent years, gave the ending a classic short track feel. With Keselowski’s Ford better over long runs and Busch slowed by a set of tires that made his Toyota ill-handling, Keselowski had the advantage with 43 laps remaining and he never looked back.

Add everything together and it’s a win Keselowski will remember for some time.

“The guys that run well everywhere run well here, and it’s really just an honor to win here and get to compete here,” Keselowski said. “This track is 70 years old and a lot of legends have won here. It feels great to be able to join them and bring home a clock.

“It’ll be hard to forget this one. This is a special day.”