Chris Buescher, Keselowski's team-mate at RFK Racing, was working feverishly to hold off Reddick in the final laps when Reddick got into him as he attempted a slide job off Turn 4 and the two collided.
That collision – which sent both drivers to the pits with flat tyres – opened the door for Keselowski to inherit the lead with eight of 293 laps remaining, and he held off Ty Gibbs by 1.214 seconds to clinch the victory.
The win is the first for Keselowski since he became co-owner of RFK Racing in 2022 and 36th of his career. Until Sunday, no Ford driver had won in any of NASCAR’s three national series this season – Cup, Xfinity and Trucks.
“What a heck of a day. It’s Darlington, so whether it’s your first win, your last win, this is a really special track,” Keselowski said. “The history of NASCAR, it’s as tough as it gets, and that battle at the end with my teammate and Tyler Reddick, we just laid it all out on the line, it was freaking awesome.
“I thought it couldn’t get much better than Kansas. It did today. That was awesome. I’m so glad you guys got to see that. That was incredible.”
Asked if he thought his chance at the win was over when he lost the lead to Buescher late in the race, Keselowski said: “It wasn’t good, but I knew that I’d have another shot at it. My car was really good on the long runs. When Tyler got underneath Chris, I knew I had another shot at it when they made contact.
“Then they must have got a flat tyre and we caught a break. We’ve caught enough bad breaks over the last year or two, it’s nice to catch a good one.”
After the race, an angry Buescher confronted Reddick at his car to complain about the way Reddick raced him. Reddick took responsibility for the incident.
Buescher, who lost last week to Kyle Larson in the closest finish in NASCAR history, ended up 30th and Reddick 32nd.
The late changes at the front saw Josh Berry pushed up to third for his best result of the season, as Denny Hamlin maintained his strong form in fourth.
Chase Briscoe was another to pick up his best result of 2024 with fifth place, ahead of William Byron and Bubba Wallace.
Alex Bowman made it four consecutive top 10 finishes in eighth, while Justin Hailey cracked the top 10 for the first time this season in ninth. Michael McDowell completed the top 10.
NASCAR Cup championship leader Kyle Larson crashed out while running in sixth in the closing stages. The Kansas winner got loose in the middle of Turns 3 and 4 from a tyre going down and slammed into the wall to bring out a caution, but the damage was extensive enough to knock him out of the race.
NASCAR Cup Darlington - Race results
| CLA | DRIVER | # | MANUFACTURER | LAPS | TIME | INTERVAL | PITS | POINTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B. KeselowskiRFK RACING | 6 | Ford | 293 |
3:12'29.287 |
9 | 57 | ||
| 2 |
T. GibbsJOE GIBBS RACING
|
54 | Toyota | 293 |
+1.214 3:12'30.501 |
1.214 | 14 | 52 | |
| 3 | J. BerrySTEWART-HAAS RACING | 4 | Ford | 293 |
+1.477 3:12'30.764 |
0.263 | 10 | 34 | |
| 4 | D. HamlinJOE GIBBS RACING | 11 | Toyota | 293 |
+3.059 3:12'32.346 |
1.582 | 10 | 36 | |
| 5 | C. BriscoeSTEWART-HAAS RACING | 14 | Ford | 293 |
+4.245 3:12'33.532 |
1.186 | 10 | 32 | |
| 6 | W. ByronHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS | 24 | Chevrolet | 293 |
+6.137 3:12'35.424 |
1.892 | 10 | 38 | |
| 7 | B. Wallace23XI RACING | 23 | Toyota | 293 |
+8.554 3:12'37.841 |
2.417 | 10 | 33 | |
| 8 | A. BowmanHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS | 48 | Chevrolet | 293 |
+9.479 3:12'38.766 |
0.925 | 10 | 29 | |
| 9 | J. HaleyRICK WARE RACING | 51 | Ford | 293 |
+10.682 3:12'39.969 |
1.203 | 12 | 28 | |
| 10 | M. McDowellFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS | 34 | Ford | 293 |
+11.702 3:12'40.989 |
1.020 | 10 | 27 | |
| 11 | R. ChastainTRACKHOUSE RACING | 1 | Chevrolet | 293 |
+15.004 3:12'44.291 |
3.302 | 10 | 27 | |
| 12 | C. ElliottHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS | 9 | Chevrolet | 293 |
+15.322 3:12'44.609 |
0.318 | 10 | 25 | |
| 13 | C. BellJOE GIBBS RACING | 20 | Toyota | 293 |
+15.859 3:12'45.146 |
0.537 | 10 | 24 | |
| 14 | N. GragsonSTEWART-HAAS RACING | 10 | Ford | 293 |
+16.242 3:12'45.529 |
0.383 | 10 | ||
| 15 | T. GillilandFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS | 38 | Ford | 293 |
+16.728 3:12'46.015 |
0.486 | 10 | 27 | |
| 16 | C. LajoieSPIRE MOTORSPORTS | 7 | Chevrolet | 293 |
+17.248 3:12'46.535 |
0.520 | 11 | 21 | |
| 17 | R. PreeceSTEWART-HAAS RACING | 41 | Ford | 293 |
+17.668 3:12'46.955 |
0.420 | 11 | 20 | |
| 18 | K. GralaRICK WARE RACING | 15 | Ford | 293 |
+17.946 3:12'47.233 |
0.278 | 9 | 19 | |
| 19 | E. JonesLEGACY MOTOR CLUB | 43 | Toyota | 293 |
+20.084 3:12'49.371 |
2.138 | 10 | 18 | |
| 20 | A. CindricTEAM PENSKE | 2 | Ford | 293 |
+20.419 3:12'49.706 |
0.335 | 10 | 17 | |
| 21 | J. LoganoTEAM PENSKE | 22 | Ford | 293 |
+20.906 3:12'50.193 |
0.487 | 10 | 23 | |
| 22 | H. BurtonWOOD BROTHERS RACING | 21 | Ford | 293 |
+21.190 3:12'50.477 |
0.284 | 10 | 15 | |
| 23 | R. Stenhouse JrJTG DAUGHERTY RACING | 47 | Chevrolet | 293 |
+21.351 3:12'50.638 |
0.161 | 9 | 14 | |
| 24 | D. SuarezTRACKHOUSE RACING | 99 | Chevrolet | 293 |
+22.463 3:12'51.750 |
1.112 | 8 | 13 | |
| 25 | M. Truex JrJOE GIBBS RACING | 19 | Toyota | 293 |
+22.675 3:12'51.962 |
0.212 | 12 | 18 | |
| 26 |
C. HocevarSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
|
77 | Chevrolet | 293 |
+24.434 3:12'53.721 |
1.759 | 9 | 11 | |
| 27 | K. BuschRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING | 8 | Chevrolet | 293 |
+24.552 3:12'53.839 |
0.118 | 10 | 10 | |
| 28 | A. DillonRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING | 3 | Chevrolet | 293 |
+28.445 3:12'57.732 |
3.893 | 9 | 9 | |
| 29 | D. KrausKAULIG RACING | 16 | Chevrolet | 292 |
+1 Lap 3:12'53.544 |
1 Lap | 10 | 8 | |
| 30 | C. BuescherRFK RACING | 17 | Ford | 291 |
+2 Laps 3:12'31.219 |
1 Lap | 11 | 15 | |
| 31 | J. NemechekLEGACY MOTOR CLUB | 42 | Toyota | 291 |
+2 Laps 3:12'35.286 |
4.067 | 10 | 6 | |
| 32 | T. Reddick23XI RACING | 45 | Toyota | 291 |
+2 Laps 3:12'37.916 |
2.630 | 12 | 22 | |
| 33 | D. HemricKAULIG RACING | 31 | Chevrolet | 290 |
+3 Laps 3:11'51.598 |
1 Lap | 11 | 4 | |
| 34 | K. LarsonHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS | 5 | Chevrolet | 252 |
+41 Laps 2:44'58.839 |
38 Laps | 9 | 19 | |
| 35 |
Z. SmithSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
|
71 | Chevrolet | 161 |
+132 Laps 1:45'23.353 |
91 Laps | 7 | 2 | |
| 36 | R. BlaneyTEAM PENSKE | 12 | Ford | 129 |
+164 Laps 1:29'01.602 |
32 Laps | 7 | 4 |
