Brad Keselowski scored his first stage win of the season by claiming Stage 1 at Darlington Raceway in Sunday’s Goodyear 400 (FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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Keselowski cycled to the lead after green-flag pit stops for the field from Laps 37 through 45, with Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher in tow.
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At his pit stop at Lap 44, polesitter Tyler Reddick’s team had an issue on its right-front tire change, slowing the stop to over 16 seconds. Reddick had led the opening 45 laps of the race before hitting pit road, returning to action in seventh place, nearly 15 seconds behind race-leader Keselowski.
Reddick rallied to second place, just 0.283 seconds shy of the stage win. Blaney, Wallace and Larson completed the top five when Stage 1 ended at Lap 90. Buescher, Chase Elliott, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suárez and William Byron rounded out the top 10.
Reddick also reported voltage issues on his No. 45 Toyota on Lap 2 after he speculates he hit a bump too hard off Turn 2. The team instructed Reddick to manage the alternator and driver cooling aids to maintain power to his engine.
Reddick pitted before pit road opened to allow the team to change a battery and a belt. Crew chief Billy Scott reported the issue is an “internal problem in the alternator.” As a penalty for pitting before pit road opened, Reddick restarted Stage 2 at the tail of the field.
This story will be updated.
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