Brad Keselowski wins Southern 500 pole

DARLINGTON, SC - SEPTEMBER 05: Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Ford, poses with the Coors Light Pole Award and Miss Coors Light Amanda Mertz after qualifying for the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 5, 2015 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)
DARLINGTON, SC - SEPTEMBER 05:  Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Ford, poses with the Coors Light Pole Award and Miss Coors Light Amanda Mertz after qualifying for the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 5, 2015 in Darlington, South Carolina.  (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)
DARLINGTON, SC – SEPTEMBER 05: Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Ford, poses with the Coors Light Pole Award and Miss Coors Light Amanda Mertz after qualifying for the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 5, 2015 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

On a throwback weekend as NASCAR celebrates its past, one of its newest champions will lead the field to the green for the historic Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway Sunday. Brad Keselowski sporting a retro paint scheme made famous by NASCAR legend Bobby Allison, put down a lap of 27.492 seconds, 178.874 mph early in the final five minute round of qualifying Saturday to score his first career pole at the track called “Too Tough to Tame”.

It was Keselowski’s first pole of the season as he has struggled with NASCAR’s rules package for 2015. This weekend however, NASCAR has instituted a low-downforce package that has made the racecars harder to control than before. That seemed to benefit Keselowski Saturday as he led the final two rounds and won his ninth career pole.

“The track was changing and the car was falling off as the tires were falling off and it is hot so the track was hard to get ahold of,” Keselowski said. MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.