CUP: Keselowski Confident With Three To Go

Sprint Cup

CUP: Keselowski Confident With Three To Go

Brad Keselowski trails Jimmie Johnson by two points with Texas looming…

Mike Hembree | Posted October 30, 2012 Charlotte, NC

Brad Keselowski is pursuing his first Sprint Cup Series title. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Three races, two points, one championship.

That’s the road ahead for Brad Keselowski, who now looks to a come-from-behind scenario in pursuit of his first Sprint Cup title after leading the points for the past month.

Jimmie Johnson won at Martinsville Sunday and jumped in front of Keselowski by two points, continuing their tight battle as the tour moves on to Fort Worth, Texas this week and Race Eight in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Next on the schedule is Phoenix International Raceway, then the season wraps up Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in south Florida.

For Keselowski, the Chase has been remarkably consistent. He has won races at Chicago and Dover and has only one finish outside the top 10 – an 11th at Charlotte in Race Five.

It’s a continuation of a solid season for the Michigan driver. In the past 17 races, he has only two finishes outside the top 10. The Martinsville finish was his 21st top 10, tying the record for seasonal top-10 runs by the Penske Racing No. 2 car. Rusty Wallace scored 21 top-10 runs in the 1993 and 1998 seasons.

But Johnson, who has won five championships, is an ever-present top-10 machine himself. In five of the seven Chase races, he has finishes no worse than fourth, a run capped by a splendid performance Sunday at Martinsville.

Keselowski realizes the challenges of the next three weeks are significant, but he said he enjoys the sort of underdog role his team plays.

“When you have a team like we have on the Miller Lite Dodge, it’s easy to stay calm in the face of adversity,” Keselowski said. “We all have each other’s back. We like our role in this Chase.

“While we aren’t being overlooked by any means, there are many who think that we are still too young of a team to seriously challenge the 48 team. We like it that way. In reality, we are a very good race team that is primed to take this fight right down to the last lap at Homestead-Miami Speedway next month.

“I’m very confident in our abilities at Texas this weekend. The mile-and-a-half tracks have been really good to us this year. We had an awesome car in April at Texas – probably the best car I’ve ever had there, but fuel issues kept us from challenging for the win. This weekend, I’m expecting to challenge for the win.”

Part of the team’s goal this weekend will be to improve its qualifying posture. Keselowski has qualified in the top 10 in only two of the past nine races. But crew chief Paul Wolfe said the Texas track offers enough opportunity for position gains to give Keselowski a chance for a good finish even with a mediocre qualifying day.

“Texas is a place with a lot of unique characteristics,” Wolfe said. “The track has bumps in turn two and has aged to where grip becomes a big factor late into a run. We want to set the car up to run the bottom of the track but yet still have the flexibility to run various lines through the corners. One of the great things about Texas is that you can pass if you have your car set up to run the different lines that the surface gives you.

“We want to qualify better – that will never change, but this is a track where it’s not a hindrance if you start mid-pack. If you have a good race car, you can get to the front.”

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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Mike Hembree

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