Latest news with #Keselowski
New York Times
2 days ago
- Automotive
- New York Times
Brad Keselowski, as playoff hopes fade, grapples with another difficult loss
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. Advertisement 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.' Advertisement 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! — 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)
NBC Sports
4 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Chase Elliott's Atlanta win takes away chance to earn a playoff spot for some drivers
HAMPTON, Ga. — On a night when opportunity opened for so many drivers outside a playoff spot, hope faded away in the blur of Chase Elliott's car. And so goes one less chance to make the playoffs for Brad Keselowski, Erik Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Zane Smith. Nate Ryan, All entered Saturday night's race at EchoPark Speedway outside a playoff spot. Jones was the closest to the cutline and he was more than one race's worth of points back. While there's a chance those drivers can point their way into the playoffs with eight races left in the regular season, the reality is they need to win. Saturday night was set to be that chance. Until it wasn't. Smith led with eight laps left. Stenhouse passed him and led with seven laps to go. Keselowski got by him and led the next five laps. Chase Elliott passed him for the victory on the final lap. 'Every loss sucks,' Keselowski said after finishing second. Keselowski is so far back in the points that he needs to win to make the playoffs. But he didn't have much of a chance on that last lap. Elliott's teammate, Alex Bowman — who entered the night on the playoff cutline — was in third place and gave Elliott a push down the frontstretch as the field took the white flag. 'If he and I did anything but push one another in that situation, we were handing the race to Brad,' Elliott said. That momentum helped Elliott dive to the inside of Keselowski's car and pass him in Turn 1. Bowman challenged Keselowski for second as Elliott pulled away for the popular win at his home track. 'There's races where you can do things different and there's races where you can't,' Keselowski said. There was not much he could do going against the two Hendrick Motorsports teammates. A key moment in the race came when Keselowksi's teammate, Chris Buescher, who had been running second to his boss, lost second to Smith at Lap 237 of the 260-lap race. Buescher then fell to fourth two laps later. He soon fell out of the top five and could not provide Keselowski any help the rest of the race. Without a teammate, Keselowski was exposed to the big moves that cars could make on the 1.54-mile speedway. When Smith took the lead, he felt comfortable with the situation only a few miles from a potential first Cup victory. 'I felt like I had a good idea of how it was going to be, controlling the guy in second, how big of a run he was going to get and just trying to stall him out the best I could and pick up help,' Smith said after finishing seventh. 'I just let two guys by.' Stenhouse made a big move to go three-wide, diving down low to take the lead. 'Just didn't feel like I had enough speed to stay there,' Stenhouse said after placing sixth. 'It was going to take some massive blocks to do that.' With the big runs, that would have led to a big crash, similar to the 22-car crash that brought out the caution at Lap 70 that eliminated points leader William Byron, pole-sitter Joey Logano, Pocono winner Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin. Keselowski took control and with two laps to go, he was in good shape. He had Tyler Reddick behind him, followed by Elliott, Stenhouse, Jones, who would finish fifth, and Bowman. That was a Toyota, two Chevrolets, a Toyota and another Chevrolet behind Keselowski's Ford. Had it stayed that jumbled, Keselowski might have been able to hold off his foes but Bowman went from sixth to third and Elliott went from third to second by the final lap, setting up Elliott's move. 'Honestly,' Elliott said, 'all the cards fell on the right places there those last couple laps.' And left Keselowski, Jones, Stenhouse and Smith still searching for that victory that gets them into the playoffs.
4 days ago
- Automotive
Home-state favorite Chase Elliott passes Brad Keselowski on final lap to win NASCAR Atlanta race
HAMPTON, Ga. -- Home-state favorite Chase Elliott passed Brad Keselowski on the final lap and won the the crash-filled NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta on Saturday night for his 20th career victory. Elliott, the popular driver from Dawsonville, Georgia, earned a spot in the NASCAR playoffs with his first victory since April 2024 at Texas. It was his first win in Atlanta since 2022. 'I've never in my whole life, this is unbelievable,' Elliott said. 'This is something I'll remember the rest of my life.' Keselowski was second, followed by Elliott's Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet teammate, Alex Bowman, and Tyler Reddick. Bowman helped block Keselowski following Elliott's last-lap pass. 'The 48 and 9 just got together,' Keselowski said, referring to Bowman and Elliott. '... At they end they were able to double-team me.' Elliott climbed into the stands to celebrate with fans after ending a 44-race winless streak. 'I'm happy for the 9 team,' Bowman said. 'It's a big win for him in his hometown. ... I'm glad to have a Hendrick car in victory lane. I wish it was us." The race's second crash early in Stage 2 took out many of the sport's biggest names and left others with damaged cars. Pole-winner Joey Logano, who led the first 36 laps before light rain forced the first caution, was among the many drivers caught up in the big crash. Among others knocked out of the race: William Byron, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain, Josh Berry, Corey LaJoie and Daniel Suarez. 'It wrecked the whole field,' Logano said. 'I still don't know exactly how it started ... but it was total chaos. Cars were sideways and on the brakes. I got hit from every corner possible.' Added Denny Hamlin, who suffered damage to his Toyota in the crash: 'Some zigged. Some zagged. Most crashed.' The Atlanta race at EchoPark Speedway, formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway, was the debut of the 32-driver In-Season Challenge, a five-race, bracket-style tournament. The parade of highly regarded drivers to be knocked out so early in the race showed the perils of trying to pick NASCAR winners on a March Madness-style bracket sheet. The top two seeds were among the early casualties. Hamlin, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, finished 31st and lost to Ty Dillon, who finished eighth. Chase Briscoe, who held off Hamlin for his first win for Joe Gibbs Racing last week at Pocono Raceway, was the No. 2 seed before being knocked out in a crash and losing to Noah Gragson in the tournament. A $1 million prize awaits the winner as part of a new media rights deal that includes TNT. Elliott and Keselowski were on the front row when a caution with 33 laps to go forced a decision on whether to pit for fresh tires. Both stayed on the track and Elliott faded following the restart until making his decisive charge at the very end. Ryan Blaney, the race favorite according to BetMGM Sportsbook, was knocked out on a wreck late in the first stage. Christopher Bell hit the wall, triggering the crash that ended the stage with Cindric in the lead. Cindric was involved in the bigger crash early in Stage 2. Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace were among others involved in the crash. Tyler Reddick beat Elliott to the finish line by .001 seconds to win Stage 2 in a battle between drivers looking for both their first stage win and overall win of the season. Lightning and rain delayed qualifying Friday and the Xfinity race won by Nick Sanchez late Friday night. More lightning and rain threatened Saturday night's race. Fans were encouraged to leave the stands about 90 minutes before the race due to severe weather in the area but were allowed to return as pre-race were conducted as planned.
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Hindustan Times
Chase Elliott gets by Brad Keselowski to capture Atlanta race
Chase Elliott passed Brad Keselowski in Turn 1 on the final lap and won a wild, wreck-filled NASCAR Cup Series' Quaker State 400 on Saturday night at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Ga. HT Image After moving to second place with two to go, the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver winless through 17 races slipped below Keselowski's No. 6 Ford and beat it to the checkers for his 20th career win and just his second in three seasons. The seven-time Most Popular Driver Award winner topped Keselowski by 0.168 seconds and earned a spot in NASCAR's 10-race postseason. Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick and Erik Jones completed the top-five finishers. In the track's first race under its new name, Team Penske racer Joey Logano took the green flag and led seven more Fords in the season's 18th race. Logano's No. 22 led every circuit as Fords owned the top six positions through 25 laps, but the No. 77 Chevrolet of Carson Hocevar was the biggest mover, climbing 23 spots to get to fourth on Lap 27. The first caution on Lap 35 for rain resulted in a nearly 15-minute red flag. Logano led the first 49 laps, but the first melee occurred on Lap 57 as Christopher Bell lost control of his No. 20 Toyota to trigger a wreck with Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon. That ended the 60-lap Stage 1 under caution with Austin Cindric as the winner. Fellow Fords driven by Keselowski and Logano trailed him. The third caution on Lap 70 nearing Turn 3, from about eighth on back, created an even bigger mess. Denny Hamlin, Logano, Ross Chastain, Cindric, Hocevar, William Byron and last week's winner Chase Briscoe all suffered major damage in the 23-car accident that brought out a second red flag. Stage 2, a 160-lap segment, produced the 1.54-mile tri-oval's best racing action that looked like recent finishes at the superspeedway as a hornet's nest of drivers 10-deep fought for the bonus points. At the end, a photo-finish showed Reddick clipping Elliott for the maximum amount, while Chris Buescher, Bowman and Jones rounded out the top five. With 34 laps left, seventh-place Justin Haley was tapped by Ty Dillon's No. 10 in a single-car incident for the 10th caution to set up the finish. Field Level Media This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
NBC Sports
15-06-2025
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
RFK Racing seeks to build on Michigan finish in Mexico
MEXICO CITY — There was no celebrating last week at RFK Racing after it placed three cars in the top 10 for the first time in a Cup race since July 2016 at Daytona. 'It was certainly not anything to be embarrassed by,' Brad Keselowski said of the team's performance at Michigan. ' … We just want to do it more often. We want to win. 'We're, as a company, just fighting really hard to break through to the next level and we have these intermittent flashes and sparks. We want to turn it into a roaring fire.' That begins with Sunday's Cup race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, a 15-turn, 2.42-mile road course. Ryan Preece will start second — his first top-five starting spot on a road course. Chris Buescher, who has the best road course average finish in the Next Gen car at 8.7, starts 16th. Keselowski will start 30th. RFK Racing has placed at least two cars in the top 10 in three of the last four races, matching what Hendrick Motorsports has done, although Hendrick has a win and three more top-five finishes than RFK in that span. Dustin Long, Ten races will remain in the regular season after Sunday's race. Buescher is in a playoff spot, 20 points above the cutline, and Preece holds the final playoff spot entering Sunday's event. Keselowski needs a win to make the playoffs. 'This is a big stretch for us,' Keselowski said. 'We want to get all three of our cars in the playoffs. It appears that it's going to take wins for all three cars to do that, maybe we'll get one car in on points. We've had a couple of really strong races but haven't broke through to Victory Lane and I'm disappointed by that. 'I feel that we're bringing efforts that are close to being able to do that, but we haven't gotten there. You can't do anything about the races behind us, but the races in front of us you're just trying to be laser-focused to achieve results.' With four road course races among the final 11 events of the regular season, Keselowski sees opportunity for his teams. 'All three of our cars at COTA were a factor at one point,' he said. 'Didn't necessarily get the win but showed some strength.' Preece has been strong lately, scoring three top 10s in the last four races. 'Confidence is a lot higher,' Preece said. 'I've been really trying to focus on this racetrack because I feel like from a team aspect there was a lot of unknowns for everybody. … The playing field is pretty level. I just put a lot of effort into it.'
