Brad Keselowski lamented what might’ve been after coming just one spot short of his first NASCAR All-Star Race win Sunday night, equating a runner-up finish to Kyle Larson and Hendrick Motorsports as a moral victory.
Team Penske managed some positives from the first All-Star Race run at Texas Motor Speedway, placing all three of its cars among the top five. Keselowski was the best of the Penske fleet in second, with teammates Joey Logano fourth and Ryan Blaney fifth.
That performance came with some acknowledgement that catch-up work still remains, given the Hendrick outfit’s current grip on the NASCAR Cup Series’ upper rungs. Larson won for the third straight weekend, adding the All-Star prize to points-paying victories at Charlotte and Sonoma. His teammates surrounded the Penske challengers in Sunday night’s scoring rundown, with Chase Elliott third, Alex Bowman sixth and William Byron seventh. In the new All-Star format with 100 laps divided into six rounds, each of the Hendrick drivers won at least one segment.