Brad Keselowski rebounded from a speeding penalty on lap 49 to win Saturday’s DC Solar 200 at ISM Raceway.
It marked the 37th win of Keselowski’s NASCAR Xfinity Series career.
The team Penske driver was able to stay ahead of pole winner Justin Allgaier over the final 22 laps to win Saturday’s race, which was twice delayed by rain.
NASCAR rules limit Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular from competing in only seven races and Keselowski said ISM Raceway was on his list to hone his skills.
“It’s a track that I haven’t ran very well at lately and I know I’m making mistakes and I want to get better at it,” Keselowski said. “This certainly bodes well for the rest of the weekend.”
The win was all the sweeter for Keselowski having to overcome the pit road speeding penalty while out racing the hard-charging Allgaier.
“I felt like the car was better than me today,” Keselowski said. “Justin Allgaier quite honestly out drove me most of the day. At the end we connected it with great pit stops, great pit work and good strategy. Got out there on brand new tires and just barely got by Christopher there and I knew once we got by ourself the car would probably carry me a little bit.”
Keselowski was the fourth different driver to win in the opening quartet of races this season.
Allgaier, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top five.
“Our guys did a great job. Really really proud of all the guys at JR Motorsports,” said Allgaier, who led a race-high 76 laps. “We just needed that little extra there at the end.”
Daniel Hemric, Matt Tifft, Cole Custer, Elliott Sadler and Tyler Reddick completed the first 10 finishers.
“It was a solid day for our Haas Automation Mustang team,” said Custer. “The guys brought me a really good car, we just weren’t able to get the track position that we needed at the front there. Another top-10 finish though, so that is something to be proud of. Everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing is working hard and I think it is showing. We are getting closer and closer.”
Allgaier and Kyle Busch won the day’s first two stages.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series now heads to Auto Club Speedway next Saturday afternoon.
