Keselowski had nothing for Elliott on final run at Atlanta

Brad Keselowski had the lead; Chase Elliott had the run.

Saturday night’s chaotic NASCAR Cup Series race came down to Keselowski and Elliott on the final lap for the victory. The RFK owner/driver led at the white flag but Elliott was thrust forward off teammate Alex Bowman's bumper, surged into Turn 1 and got a nose underneath the No. 6. It was all Elliott needed, and there was nothing else Keselowski could do.

“The [No.] 48 got behind the [No.] 9 and didn’t take his run,” Keselowski said. “He used his run to push the [No.] 9 and it accelerated beyond what I could block.”

Keselowski told his team the run was so strong he couldn’t block it. A block likely would have resulted in a wreck instead of a fighting chance for the remainder of the lap. He finished second after pulling the right-to-left crossover move on Bowman off Turn 4, coming to the finish line.

“The [No.] 9 car got a great push from the [No.] 48 there, and if those guys would race, I could hold them off,” Keselowski said. “But when they double-teamed me like that …  it was the same thing when we had a couple of teammates [and] we were able to hold them off. We lost that, and, at the end, they were able to double-team me.

“[It was] a good effort, led a lot of laps, in position. I don’t think there is really anything I could do differently.”

Keselowski led 46 laps. It was the second-most of any driver. Joey Logano, who led 51 of the first 60 laps in the first stage, led the most. Logano was taken out of contention in the biggest crash of the night on lap 70, and it opened the door for Keselowski to be one of the strongest cars for the remainder of the event.

A win would have changed Keselowski’s season. There is no looking at the point standings when it comes to the postseason, and it’s been must-win mode for a few weeks. There are eight races left in the regular season.

“Every week you don’t win is one that got away,” Keselowski said. “It’s an opportunity, but it’s hard to rank one over the other. I don’t really see anything I could have done differently.”