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Sprint Cup
HEMBREE: The Joy Of Sixth Place
Brad Keselowski kept himself on the championship track with a race-long rally Sunday…
Brad Keselowski was stout throughout the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. (Photo: Getty Images)
There was an odd sort of circumstance occurring in the minutes that followed Jimmie Johnson’s solid victory in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway.
While Johnson was burning tires and making his way to the victory celebration, Brad Keselowski was participating in a subdued celebration of his own.
For finishing sixth?
This was unlike virtually any other late-season “playoff” scenario one might come across. Sixth-places aren’t often stamped with such positivity, especially when the main opponent of the sixth-place individual happens to finish first. And, on a day in which the sixth-place individual loses the point lead to the race winner.
But that was the case in the final minutes of afternoon light at Martinsville Sunday. Keselowski “won” without winning, finishing sixth in a race that he started in 32nd position. He and his team fought the good fight, wading through 500 laps and 11 cautions to score one of the best sixths of the season.
“It’s like being in a war and surviving a battle,” Keselowski said. “It’s not necessarily a win. You’re just happy to still be living.”
Although Johnson’s win cost Keselowski the point lead, he trails by only two with Texas, Phoenix and Homestead remaining on the schedule. Most observers probably favor Johnson, a five-time champion, now that he’s in his customary spot – first – and the pressure has reached very intense levels, but Keselowski’s team has responded repeatedly this season, and it isn’t likely to fold over the next three weeks.
It should be a fine battle to the very end.
“We need to take the weekends where we’re not the fastest and execute, get solid finishes,” Keselowski said. “We did that this week and last week (at Kansas, where he finished eighth). Now, over the next three weeks we need to make sure that we have the speed to match the execution. And, if we can do that, then we can win this thing.”
Keselowski will be climbing a mountain of sorts over the next three weeks, battling not only the difficulties of the three tracks and the competition but also the perception that the title is Johnson’s to lose.
“We’re still growing together, but I believe that we can do this, I really do,” Keselowski said. “We’ve got work ahead of us, and I know that, but we’re doing all the right things. If you do that long enough, good things will happen to you, and good things are happening to us.
“We certainly want the championship, and even if that doesn’t happen this year – and I don’t want to talk like a defeatist, but even if that doesn’t happen … we’ve had a tremendous season, and I feel like we can get it done. … I’m very proud of how far Penske Racing has come in the last two or three years since I’ve been here.”
Keselowski has three weeks to take advantage of a prime opportunity, one he gained by finishing – of all places – sixth.
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.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
While Johnson was burning tires and making his way to the victory celebration, Brad Keselowski was participating in a subdued celebration of his own.
For finishing sixth?
This was unlike virtually any other late-season “playoff” scenario one might come across. Sixth-places aren’t often stamped with such positivity, especially when the main opponent of the sixth-place individual happens to finish first. And, on a day in which the sixth-place individual loses the point lead to the race winner.
But that was the case in the final minutes of afternoon light at Martinsville Sunday. Keselowski “won” without winning, finishing sixth in a race that he started in 32nd position. He and his team fought the good fight, wading through 500 laps and 11 cautions to score one of the best sixths of the season.
“It’s like being in a war and surviving a battle,” Keselowski said. “It’s not necessarily a win. You’re just happy to still be living.”
Although Johnson’s win cost Keselowski the point lead, he trails by only two with Texas, Phoenix and Homestead remaining on the schedule. Most observers probably favor Johnson, a five-time champion, now that he’s in his customary spot – first – and the pressure has reached very intense levels, but Keselowski’s team has responded repeatedly this season, and it isn’t likely to fold over the next three weeks.
It should be a fine battle to the very end.
“We need to take the weekends where we’re not the fastest and execute, get solid finishes,” Keselowski said. “We did that this week and last week (at Kansas, where he finished eighth). Now, over the next three weeks we need to make sure that we have the speed to match the execution. And, if we can do that, then we can win this thing.”
Keselowski will be climbing a mountain of sorts over the next three weeks, battling not only the difficulties of the three tracks and the competition but also the perception that the title is Johnson’s to lose.
“We’re still growing together, but I believe that we can do this, I really do,” Keselowski said. “We’ve got work ahead of us, and I know that, but we’re doing all the right things. If you do that long enough, good things will happen to you, and good things are happening to us.
“We certainly want the championship, and even if that doesn’t happen this year – and I don’t want to talk like a defeatist, but even if that doesn’t happen … we’ve had a tremendous season, and I feel like we can get it done. … I’m very proud of how far Penske Racing has come in the last two or three years since I’ve been here.”
Keselowski has three weeks to take advantage of a prime opportunity, one he gained by finishing – of all places – sixth.
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.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
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