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Sprint Cup
CUP: Johnson, 48 Team Build Tough Barrier
Brad Keselowski faces hard climb over final two races…
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, drills his name into the Wall of Champions in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)
Clint Bowyer perhaps can best appreciate the level of frustration Brad Keselowski might be feeling in his pursuit of the Sprint Cup championship.
Four weeks ago, after the fourth race in the Chase at Talladega, Bowyer was 40 points behind the point leader (then Keselowski).
Since then, Bowyer has strung together impressive runs, winning at Charlotte, finishing fifth at Martinsville and scoring sixths at Kansas and Texas.
Yet, in the grand scheme of things, Bowyer has gained only four points on the Chase lead. He trails by 36 – and realistically no longer has a shot at the championship – entering Race Nine Sunday in Phoenix.
Keselowski ran to the limits of his ability – and perhaps beyond – Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway but still finished second to Johnson and lost ground in the championship chase. Keselowski entered Texas two points behind Johnson. Going to Phoenix this weekend with only two races remaining, he trails by seven.
It’s a hard life, this pursuit of the 48 gang.
“Certainly, I would have liked to have won today, but I feel like we're fighting the good fight and doing some great things as a team that I'm really, really proud of,” Keselowski said after the race Sunday.
“Obviously, it's not going to come easy. But anything worth doing in life shouldn't come easy, and I appreciate the efforts of the people that I'm around to make it happen. I appreciate the fact that it's difficult because it brings out the best in everybody. As a group, I feel like we've brought our best, and I'm really proud of everybody for that.”
Keselowski’s best approach – maybe his only approach – now is winning. With Johnson on a roll – two straight wins, it’s not realistic to assume he’ll have a bad race, barring, of course, an accident.
“We'll probably need to win one of the next two races…,” Keselowski said. “I feel like Phoenix is a whole different animal. I know you want to bring the stats up where he's so dominant. But they repaved last year, so it's not the same track. So, I don't feel like a notebook there is that significant.
“Other than the past two races there where we've been just as good, in both races I felt like we may have been a little better in the fall than he was, and he was probably a little better in the spring. Looking at it that way, I'd say it's probably a heads-up match going into Phoenix and probably the same going into Homestead. We just need to win the heads-up matches.
“I'm confident that we can execute at a high level. I'm confident that the way it's worked over the last three weeks – we haven't caught good breaks or bad breaks, and he's caught several really good ones. I'm confident that that will come back around, and when it does, we'll change these seconds and fifths or whatever they are over the last few weeks into wins.”
Keselowski said he’s still in control of his immediate future.
“I feel like that's bound to happen over the next two weeks, and we have the team to pull it off,” he said. “I also feel like the way the points are right now, we still control our own destiny, which is if we win the race, we get the points lead. So, that's about all you can ask for.”
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.
Four weeks ago, after the fourth race in the Chase at Talladega, Bowyer was 40 points behind the point leader (then Keselowski).
Since then, Bowyer has strung together impressive runs, winning at Charlotte, finishing fifth at Martinsville and scoring sixths at Kansas and Texas.
Yet, in the grand scheme of things, Bowyer has gained only four points on the Chase lead. He trails by 36 – and realistically no longer has a shot at the championship – entering Race Nine Sunday in Phoenix.
Keselowski ran to the limits of his ability – and perhaps beyond – Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway but still finished second to Johnson and lost ground in the championship chase. Keselowski entered Texas two points behind Johnson. Going to Phoenix this weekend with only two races remaining, he trails by seven.
It’s a hard life, this pursuit of the 48 gang.
“Certainly, I would have liked to have won today, but I feel like we're fighting the good fight and doing some great things as a team that I'm really, really proud of,” Keselowski said after the race Sunday.
“Obviously, it's not going to come easy. But anything worth doing in life shouldn't come easy, and I appreciate the efforts of the people that I'm around to make it happen. I appreciate the fact that it's difficult because it brings out the best in everybody. As a group, I feel like we've brought our best, and I'm really proud of everybody for that.”
Keselowski’s best approach – maybe his only approach – now is winning. With Johnson on a roll – two straight wins, it’s not realistic to assume he’ll have a bad race, barring, of course, an accident.
“We'll probably need to win one of the next two races…,” Keselowski said. “I feel like Phoenix is a whole different animal. I know you want to bring the stats up where he's so dominant. But they repaved last year, so it's not the same track. So, I don't feel like a notebook there is that significant.
“Other than the past two races there where we've been just as good, in both races I felt like we may have been a little better in the fall than he was, and he was probably a little better in the spring. Looking at it that way, I'd say it's probably a heads-up match going into Phoenix and probably the same going into Homestead. We just need to win the heads-up matches.
“I'm confident that we can execute at a high level. I'm confident that the way it's worked over the last three weeks – we haven't caught good breaks or bad breaks, and he's caught several really good ones. I'm confident that that will come back around, and when it does, we'll change these seconds and fifths or whatever they are over the last few weeks into wins.”
Keselowski said he’s still in control of his immediate future.
“I feel like that's bound to happen over the next two weeks, and we have the team to pull it off,” he said. “I also feel like the way the points are right now, we still control our own destiny, which is if we win the race, we get the points lead. So, that's about all you can ask for.”
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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