By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
For the first time in 2018, Ford didn’t have a shot at victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. No, an 11-second lead from Martin Truex Jr. took that away from every driver at the end of 400 miles Sunday at Auto Club Speedway.
But for Ford’s Brad Keselowski, the Auto Club 400 showed some strength despite no win and no laps led. With Team Penske teammate Joey Logano in tow, Keselowski was a common name in the top five practically from start to finish in a race dominated by Toyota. Keselowski finished fourth.
“We had exceptional speed today with our Ford on short runs,” Keselowski said. “But not really much for them on the long runs that’s for sure. We fired off and the car was really well-balanced. We just couldn’t find anything more.”
Short-run speed, naturally, was beneficial on restarts for the 2015 track winner. The event had five of them throughout the day and Keselowski was an avid passer on each one. He still didn’t have enough to stay ahead of Toyota and, unfortunately for the No. 2 crew, the race ended with a 68-lap green stretch, the longest of the day.
“I was hoping we’d get a late-race caution and I could make it exciting for the fans there,” he said, “but it didn’t pan out that way.”
Despite the disappointment, a fourth-place run capped off a building weekend for the team after unloading slow on Friday.
“We unloaded not where we wanted to be by any means,” he said. “Worked on it, had some great practice sessions and made some great adjustments.”
Earning his second top-five finish of 2018 and his only of the West Coast Swing, Keselowski now heads to Martinsville Speedway in five days, a track he won in 2017.
“Had a great, solid day,” he concluded. “We feel like we ran to our potential. We have to get a little more potential with faster cars. That’s something to build off.”