Brad Keselowski Gets First NASCAR Cup Series Martinsville Win [VIDEO, PHOTOS]

Posted on April 3, 2017

Sunday afternoon (4/2) Brad Keselowski earned his first NASCAR Cup Series Martinsville clock and his second Monster Energy series win of 2017 in the STP 500.

NASCAR went “Short Trackin'” at Martinsville Speedway and as normal, there was plenty of excitement for fans to enjoy.

Brad Keselowski was one of the drivers busted for speeding (and other violations) on pit road early in the race. However, obviously he did recover from the penalty for the violation.

There was a total of 14 caution periods during the 500 lap race. Two were at the end of the first two stages of the race. Eleven were for incidents on the track during the race and one was for debris on the track.

Qualifying for the race was rained out so the starting line-up was set by car owner points. Martin Truex Jr. won the bonus points for being the leader of the race at the end of stage one. It appeared that Kyle Busch would be the winner of the second stage until a lapped car moved him up the track to get his lap back and opened the door for Chase Elliot to beat Kyle to the line to win the stage and the bonus points.

Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski battled each other through most of the third and final stage of the race exchanging the lead several times. Kyle dominated the race leading a race high 274 laps with Brad second in that statistic with a total of 116 laps out front.

Of course, the most import lap to lead is the last lap. Brad was able to get the lead on lap 458 and hold it for the final 43 circuits to claim his first win in NASCAR’s top series at the track and become the first multiple winner of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Kyle Busch had to settle for the runner-up finish with Chase Elliott grabbing the third place finish. Joey Logano battled back from issues through the race to score the fourth place finish while Austin Dillon rounded out the top five. See the complete race results for the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway here.

Kyle Larson started the Martinsville race as the leader of the point standings and finished the race in that same position. In fact, the entire top five in the standings remain the same this week with Chase Elliott in second, Martin Truex Jr. third, Brad Keselowski fourth and Joey Logano in fifth place. See the complete Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series point standings here.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Sunday afternoon, April 9th.

By: Buck Stevens

CLICK PICTURE TO SEE PHOTO GALLERY

2017 STP 500 at Martinsville

MARTINSVILLE, VA - APRIL 02: Fans cheer during the flyover before the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 2, 2017 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo courtesy of NASCARmedia.com by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA - APRIL 02: Fans cheer during the flyover before the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 2, 2017 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo courtesy of NASCARmedia.com by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

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