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NASCAR Cup Sonoma

Keselowski scores career-high Sonoma result of third

Brad Keselowski hoped to be more lucky than good at Sonoma Raceway.

Lee Spencer

Edited: Jun 26, 2017, 1:36 AM

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Brad Keselowski, Team Penske Ford

Brad Keselowski, Team Penske Ford, Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford

Matt Kenseth, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Brad Keselowski, Team Penske Ford

Brad Keselowski, Team Penske Ford, Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Brad Keselowski, Team Penske Ford

But the cautions just didn’t fall in his favor during the Toyota Save Mart 350.

Still, Keselowski led a career-high 17 laps in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford before finishing a career-high third on Sunday.

“It was fun,” Keselowski said. “We had a really fast Elite Support Freightliner Ford, and man, when you have a car that great, you just ‑‑ you really enjoy every moment of it, and today was a day I really enjoyed.

“I had the slip‑up there and got into Clint and that really stank, but other than that, just an incredible race car, and really a pleasure to drive.”

Fords swept the podium with Kevin Harvick picking up the win. Clint Bowyer was second with Keselowski finishing third as the race ended under caution.

Keselowski came from 23rd to finish 18th in the first stage. He remained on the track during the second segment to finish second behind Jimmie Johnson. Keselowski pitted on Lap 52 to start the final stage on fresh tires. He took the lead on Lap 71 and held on for 17 circuits before his tires wore out and Harvick passed him for the point.

After 41 laps on tires, Keselowski finally pitted on Lap 93.

“It was tough, but this is the big leagues,” Keselowski said. “It’s not supposed to be easy to drive. The cars are incredibly difficult to drive, but that’s part of what makes it fun and I think exactly the way it should be.

“It looked like it was putting us behind, but we had such a great long‑run car that it played back out for us, which was great. In fact, I think we were hoping to catch a yellow and didn’t catch it. If we would have, I think that would have been the race‑winning move. But still, all in all, a great day for us.”

Keselowski moved back to fifth in the Cup standings with his ninth top-five finish of 2017.

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