The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Keselowski wins, exhales
Talladega luck plays big part in driver’s move to next round.
Brad Keselowski (2) wins a race that had three red flags and only 14 cars running at the end. TALLADEGA, ALA. — Brad Keselowski earned an automatic berth in the third round of the NASCAR Cup playoffs with a victory Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, where he considered himself lucky to finish after a wreck-filled race.
“I survived,” Keselowski said. “I feel like only eight cars finished the race. It was one of those crazy days ... a lot of attrition.”
Just 14 cars were running at the conclusion, and only four had playoff drivers. The race was red-flagged three times for nearly 35 minutes.
By avoiding the carnage, Keselowski won for the fifth time at Talladega and gave Ford a season sweep of the four restrictor-plate races.
Most important is that he knows he’s still in the hunt for his second Cup title. The victory vaulted him from 10th to second in the playoff standings.
“You’d love to be able to pat yourself on the back and say it’s all skill, but there is some luck that’s involved in this,” Keselowski said. “When you come here, probably three out of every four races you’re going to get caught up in a wreck.
“But the races where you have the good fortune, where you don’t get caught up in a wreck or you don’t have something break or any of those things, you have to take those races, run up front and win them. That’s what we’ve been able to do.”
The 2.66-mile Talladega track was the perfect place for Keselowski to take the stress off before next week’s elimination race at Kansas, when the playoff field is cut from 12 to eight. Crew chief Paul Wolfe told Keselowski he needed to win because the Fords haven’t run as well as the other cars on intermediate tracks such as Kansas.
Keselowski led when the race resumed with three laps remaining, but Ryan Newman passed him and stayed out front until the final lap. Then Keselowski made his move around Newman on the high side of the track, and his crossover move held off both Newman and Penske teammate Joey Logano.
Newman finished second and Logano fourth.
Keselowski earned his 24th career Cup win in his 300th start. The only other playoff driver in the top 10 was Denny Hamlin in sixth.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who started from the pole, finished seventh in his final race at Talladega before his retires at season’s end.
“This has been a hell of a weekend for me, and I’m glad to be able to finish and finish well. That means a lot to me,” Earnhardt said.
“I know a lot of folks came and traveled here to see us run, so I know they’re disappointed we didn’t win, but I’m glad they got to see us run the whole event, and hopefully they enjoyed it.”
All the accidents Sunday gave the playoff standings a different look. Martin Truex Jr. still leads, but the bottom four drivers are Kyle Busch — who has been in wrecks in consecutive weeks — Matt Kenseth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Jamie McMurray. Defending series champion Jimmie Johnson is right on the cut line at No. 8.
McMurray finished 37th after he misfired on his attempt to pit early in the race. He was too high on the track when he tried to dart low to make the entrance to pit road, and forcing the issue in traffic caused him to wreck.
“It’s part of Talladega,” he said. “We know you can come out of here with a lot of points and be a winner or you can be in the position we are right now. We’ll go to Kansas and do our best. I’m sure I won’t be the only playoff driver disappointed today.”