Brad Keselowski’s recent consistency puts him in position to make this year’s Playoffs field. (Photo: Stephen Conley | The Podium Finish)
BROOKLYN, Mich. – The summer of Brad Keselowski made its way to familiar territory at Michigan International Speedway.
Before returning home to the 2-mile superspeedway in the Irish Hills, the 39-year-old Rochester Hills, Michigan native had some momentum on his side. Mainly, he ranked 11th in points thanks to four top fives and nine top 10 finishes.
Although the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion qualified 12th for the FireKeepers Casino 400, he made his presence known as a frontrunner. In Stage 1, the 39-year-old stock car veteran placed fourth, netting seven stage points.
Once Stage 2 was underway, Keselowski ‘s No. 6 Nexlizet Ford Mustang was a genuine top five contender. Even when rain postponed the remainder of the race into Monday afternoon, the Michigander was authentically quick on pace.
Placing third in Stage 2, the RFK Racing co-owner totaled 15 stage points. By far and large, the No. 6 car looked like the Ford Performance threat seen during the Mark Martin years from 1988 to 2006.
Even with the seesaw pit strategies with drivers and teams trying to position themselves for the win, Keselowski was not deterred. During the final pit stop cycles inside the final 40 laps, Keselowski led for 15 laps.
Eventually surrendering the lead for his pit stop on Lap 176, Keselowski fell outside of the top 20. Methodical and patience, the agile racer scored a fourth-place result.
While he came up short in his latest pursuit of a home state victory, he tipped his cap to his teammate Chris Buescher on his second consecutive Cup race win.
Keselowski wasted little time charging to the top five at Michigan. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
“Chris nailed it there at the end,” Keselowski said. “We got really fast right at the end of the race with both cars and hadn’t shown that speed all weekend. Credit to both teams working together and making good adjustments and learned from each other applied them to get the speed out of our cars.
“We drove from 21st or 22nd there the last run up to fourth. I wish the race was like 30 or 40 laps longer because I was coming. We were running 37.80’s and the leaders were running 38.0. We just ran out of laps. If we can’t win it, I am so glad Chris did.”
With Ford winning its ninth consecutive race at Michigan, Keselowski praised his organization for keeping on top of the changing track conditions. A 1-4 RFK Racing finish was made sweeter with the Blue Oval reigning supreme over the Toyota efforts of Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin.
“Yeah, it seemed like most of the race the 19 and 11 car were just dominant,” he said. “Right at the end, we made some adjustments on both of our cars, found some speed. Chris was able to hold off Martin, running all of them down.
“Really happy for all the folks at Castro, RFK. There’s a lot of work going on here. We’re digging deep, getting the results. I’m so thankful and proud for everyone at RFK.”
Most of all, Keselowski moved to eighth in the championship standings. If he can tally 54 points in next Sunday’s Verizon 200 at Indianapolis, he will clinch a Playoffs spot.
Likewise, the 35-time Cup race winner, who tallied the third best Driver Rating (115.4), savors his team’s strong results and organization’s determination to reestablish themselves as a consistent threat.
“We’re letting our results speak for themselves,” Keselowski said. “Chris has done a heck of a job driving the car. When you get win, it feels really good. We got to keep some humbleness and keep our head down. There’s some great competition out here.”
