A horrendously bad string of luck has put Brad Keselowski in a position of needing to likely win his way into the NASCAR playoffs, having failed to finish five of the season’s first 12 NASCAR Cup Series races.
Keselowski has been on an upward trend as of late, and he nearly cashed in on Saturday night at EchoPark Speedway, being edged in the closing laps as Chase Elliott got by Keselowski for the win. Keselowski inched ahead of Alex Bowman for the second-place finish.
That finish was a good points result for Keselowski. But with drivers needing a win or to be among the top-running drivers without a win, the No. 6’s path to the postseason is something that Keselowski fell short of on Saturday - a race victory.
“The 9 just had the 48 behind him giving him a huge push, and there was nothing I could do to cover that,” Keselowski said.
“When we had our cars linked up at RFK (Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing), we could do the same thing, but we lost that. It was just kind of a two-on-one, and I fought as hard as I could.”
Being in a position to win was impressive in its own right for Keselowski.
After being involved in the race’s lap-70 crash, the No. 6 crew led by crew chief Jeremy Bullins went right to work, making multiple repairs to allow Keselowski to stay on the lead lap and in position to make up ground.
The persistence paid off with Keselowski moving into the lead just past the halfway point of the 260-lap race, one of which he led seven times for 46 laps.
In the end, it was another momentum- building run for Keselowski, one that he hopes will lead to a win between now and the of the regular season in late August at Daytona International Speedway.
“Every time I got the lead, I couldn’t seem to get everything to go our way,” Keselowski said. “Every loss stings.”
