Brad Keselowski Gives Ford Its Second Straight Win

Two races into the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season and Ford has come away a winner both times.  Kevin Harvick dominated the race winning both the first and second stages, but Brad Keselowski battled from behind to win the Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Kyle Larson finished second.  Matt Kenseth survived two pit road speeding penalties to finish third.  Kasey Kahne was fourth and Chase Elliott also overcame a speeding penalty to round out the Top Five.

Harvick led 293 of the 325 laps in the race, but he was among eight drivers caught for speeding on pit road and unfortunately for him it came too late in the race for him to recover.  After starting from the pole Harvick finished ninth.  He led all but three of the 85 laps in the first stage.

Keselowski avoided being tagged for speeding, but he had some problems to deal with himself.   He got off of pit road first during a caution with 63 laps to go, but he had to return to his pit before the race restarted because of a loose wheel.  He also had a tire issue earlier in the race.

Five drivers had problems getting thru inspection on Friday and weren't able to make qualifying attempts.  Those drivers; Jeffrey Earnhardt, Michael McDowell, Cole Whitt, Derricke Cope and Cody Ware all made the race anyway because only 39 cars entered.

Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott pulled triple duty over the weekend at Atlanta driving in the Xfinity and Camping World Truck series races on Saturday.  Busch won the Xfinity race, but his car failed post-race inspection.

The series moves west next weekend to Las Vegas Motor Speedway.