Brad Keselowski could have expressed frustration after a dominant day ended with him in a pit road bullpen instead of victory lane. Yet, he took a different approach.
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In a era featuring The Chase and a greater importance on season-long points, he was perfectly fine with being the "first place loser."
Keselowski missed out on his third Darlington Raceway win on Sunday evening, but he left the South Carolina track with the second-most points (55). He swept the stage wins, scoring 20 stage points in the process.
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He led a race-high 142 laps but finished second behind Tyler Reddick, who scored his fourth win in the first six races.
"We didn't have the best car today," Keselowski said after the race. "Not compared to Tyler. Tyler drove a hell of a race, and he's driving a rocket, and he's making it count right now.
"I think we got the most out of the day we were getting to get, honest, but we scored a lot of stage points. Second place, first place loser, but that's okay. We're doing the things we need to do and making the most of the days we have."
Despite the loss, this marked Keselowski's most complete performance since taking over RFK Racing as a co-owner, especially as it helped him move up to ninth in the Cup Series standings.
His previous best performance with RFK Racing also took place at Darlington Raceway. He led 37 laps in the 2024 spring race and scored 17 stage points. He then took advantage of contact between Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher in the closing laps. Keselowski led the final nine laps and scored his first win with RFK Racing.
The 2012 Cup Series champion was not the only member of RFK Racing who put on a strong performance at one of NASCAR's hardest tracks. Buescher led 41 laps and scored 14 stage points.
He was in contention for the win during the final stage before a late pit call resulted in Reddick hitting him from behind and turning him into the wall. Buescher still finished the race inside of the top 10 after a trip down pit road.
Ryan Preece started 17th at the South Carolina track, but he also spent time in the top 10. He raced as high as third at a point when all three RFK Racing drivers ran 1-2-3. He also scored five stage points.
Preece faded to 17th before slightly recovering. He ended the day in 13th place and left Darlington Raceway 12th in the Cup Series standings. All three members of RFK Racing are above the Chase cutline after six races.
"It's great," Keselowski said about RFK Racing's performance. "I was joking when we walked out of the garage area last night after qualifying that we're on the right side of the garage area.
"Our hauler is parked to the right side and we're just showing ourselves as a team that is highly capable."
