Brad Keselowski, as playoff hopes fade, grapples with another difficult loss

New York Times

a day ago

HAMPTON, Ga. — Brad Keselowski has raced long enough to become well-versed in how to process tough losses. He knows how to quickly move past the hurt and turn his focus to what's next. It's a part of why he is so successful — a NASCAR Cup Series champion, a 36-time race winner, and likely an eventual first-ballot NASCAR Hall of Famer.
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But considering the stakes Saturday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway, it's hard not to think the 41-year-old Keselowski's latest tough loss is going to take a little longer to process. And yet, there he stood on pit road after falling victim to a numbers game, not able to overcome the teamwork executed by the Hendrick Motorsports duo of Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman and trying not to dwell on what could've been.
'Every loss stings,' Keselowski said.
It's been a trying season for Keselowski, one filled with missed opportunities, bad luck and miscues that have contributed to him being buried in the standings. Coming into Atlanta, he ranked 30th in points, so deep that his only pathway to the playoffs was by winning one of the remaining nine regular-season races.
Atlanta represented a chance for reprieve, for Keselowski to push past what is statistically his worst season since 2010, his de facto rookie year. And in a race he needed to win to salvage his faint playoff hopes, he delivered a stirring performance that called back to a time when he ruled on drafting tracks like Atlanta, which shares similar characteristics to Daytona and Talladega — two tracks at which he owns a combined seven wins — since being reconfigured three years ago.
Much of Saturday's final stage was vintage Keselowski. There he was, making sweeping passes going into the corners, pulling off impressive blocks when someone behind him got a big run, executing aggressive moves when called for, completing a smooth-looking crossover pass on Elliott off Turn 4 as they dueled in the closing laps, and deftly working with RFK Racing teammate Chris Buescher, who acted as his wingman.
'That's the Brad that is so good at these super speedways and this style of racing,' Buescher said. 'We had race cars that enabled us to make moves, and most specifically, Brad, to make some of those power moves that he's so good at. It's a big step for us just having better race cars and him showing what he's capable of when we get to that point.'
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But as great as Keselowski was, he couldn't stave off Elliott on the final lap. The Hendrick driver got a run down the frontstretch, allowing him to complete the pass going through Turns 1 and 2. Any chance Keselowski had to counterattack went away when a charging Bowman opted not to work with Keselowski, instead protecting his teammate and ensuring a Hendrick win.
THE SI-REEN SOUNDS AGAIN! @chaseelliott wins with a last-lap pass of @keselowski! pic.twitter.com/NHal3tq03c
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 29, 2025
'(Bowman) was a great teammate in that moment, for sure,' Elliott said. 'If (Bowman) takes me two-wide, we are all but saying, 'Here, Brad, you can win.' … It's our job as a company to try to get Hendrick Motorsports a win at that point in time, whether it was he or I or however that transpired, right? Naturally, it did just that.'
It was a selfless decision by Bowman — who also needs a win as he too is fighting for a playoff spot — but one that proved costly to Keselowski. Without a push by Bowman, and without Bowman going after Elliott and slowing the Hendrick teammates, Keselowski was virtually helpless with Buescher having fallen back.
Elliott snapped a 44-race winless streak; Keselowski's winless streak extended to 41 races.
'(Elliott and Bowman) were able to work together really well and kind of doubled up on me at the end, and there was nothing I could do,' Keselowski said.
Had Keselowski been able to close out, Saturday night's triumph would've been one for the highlight reel. It wasn't as memorable as when he won at Pocono in 2011, days after breaking his ankle in a crash while testing, or at Talladega in 2014, when he came through in a must-win situation in a playoff elimination race, but Atlanta would've certainly been another moment in a career defined by them.
Maybe knowing there was nothing he could've done differently is why Keselowski was so pragmatic afterward. He's experienced this enough times to understand that the circumstances are sometimes just beyond your control.
Still, the reality is that Keselowski's point situation is so dire that he must win a race in the next eight weeks or he'll fail to qualify for the playoffs. And with three of the eight remaining races held on road/street courses — he's never won on either track type — his path to the postseason feels even narrower.
'I don't think about that,' Keselowski said. 'I just want to win.'
(Top photo of Brad Keselowski, left, leading the pack alongside Alex Bowman during Saturday's race: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)