Fresh off a runner-up finish the previous week at Texas, Keselowski found himself in contention for a win for the second consecutive week as the final laps unfolded at Talladega.
After taking the white flag signaling one lap remaining, the Fords of Noah Gragson, Michael McDowell and Keselowski were able to get past Tyler Reddick and McDowell and Keselowski appeared poised to settle outcome between themselves.
Instead, an errant block by McDowell on Keselowski’s attempt to take the lead as the two raced through the tri-oval left McDowell crashed and allowed Reddick to slip by Keselowski to steal the win.
Keselowski with another runner-up finish and a continuation of his frustratingly long winless streak.
“The Fords were really working well together,” Keselowski said after the race. “We cleared the Toyotas on the bottom lane, and it was pretty clear it was going to come down to the three of us.
“I backed up, Noah gave me a great push and I went to make a move on Michael, and he covered it, and I went back the other way and got another push from Noah and there was nowhere to go when Michael came back down.
“I hate that for him, he’s a good guy, I hope he’s alright. That’s just kind of the way this stuff goes, but all in all, it was a really solid day for us. It’s another second.
“Good finishes are important, but we want wins. I could really taste it today, but it just didn’t happen.”
With his consecutive top five finishes for the second time this season, Keselowski has gained four spots in the series standings to 14th entering next weekend’s race at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway.
At the moment, that would be good enough to qualify for the playoffs, but a win would provide a much-needed guarantee.
Still, Keselowski was pleased by the effort of his No. 6 RFK Racing team.
“We just ran a really solid race, really good execution, strategy, put ourselves in position and ran up front at the end when it mattered. I just wish we could have got the win,” he said. “It was kind of a wild finish there.
“We weren’t able to get the win, but still a really solid day and something to be proud of.”
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