At Last

WE DID IT, WE DID IT, WE DID IT!

Brad Keselowski finally made his way back into Victory Lane Saturday night in Charlotte! This has been a long time coming, and it has never felt so sweet. I knew he would be the first non-Chaser to win a race, but I didn’t know when and where it would come, and when Brad had a jack problem mid way through the race (it being left under the car and dragged all the way around the track), wasn’t thinking that we would see it Saturday night.

The hard, clean racing we were seeing out of the No. 2 and No. 5 was incredible, and the type of racing we should always see between two professional drivers.

I can’t even explain how overwhelmed I am with emotion right now, but bear with me.

There was an enormous amount of complaining over Twitter throughout the race, even from media members, for the “lack of excitement.” But as soon as that last debris caution was called with 25 to go, the race was on! Brad restarted around 6th with four fresh tires, and when they took the green, the 2 car was like a rocket ship. He took off like I haven’t seen that car move in over a year. He flew past the points leader, Matt Kenseth, and then set his sights on leader Kasey Kahne, who had a sizeable lead. Kahne’s lead was becoming shorter and shorter by the second, Brad quickly reeled him in. They fought for first place for several laps. For those complaining about the race prior to the last caution, they now had nothing to complain about.

The hard, clean racing we were seeing out of the No. 2 and No. 5 was incredible, and the type of racing we should always see between two professional drivers. Brad would run the top while Kasey would run the bottom, and then they would switch. Kahne even pulled the crossover move on BK! But that wasn’t the end. When Brad cleared Kasey for the second or third time, I knew we had it. But I stayed completely silent and focused. I didn’t want to get my hopes up like I had quite a few other times this season. When I heard the guys in the booth finally say Brad Keselowski was spoiling the Chase party, I knew it was safe to celebrate!

YOU ARE THE MAN @KESELOWSKI! THE CHAMP IS BACK IN VICTORY LANE! YES, YES, YES!

I was planning on sharing what went on over the radio between Brad and the team after he took the checkers, but I was too excited to write it all down. The gist of the radio communication was many thanks, cheers, and praise. The No. 2 team deserves this win. It’s been way too long and now they finally have one under their belt for 2013.

I paid close attention to everything that was happening from Brad, from grabbing his American Flag that he flies in victory, to him pulling into VL, to him standing taking his victory photos. It was then that I saw something incredible and very interesting. I could be overanalyzing this, but I really want to believe it was something significant. Brad was standing with the BoA employees for one of the photos, and I saw him take a big breath in, and then let out a huge sigh of relief. It really caught my attention. It was like I was witnessing a weight lifting off of his shoulders.

The pressure is somewhat now off of Brad and the No. 2 team. No one will be talking about how they haven’t won in 2013 after coming off of a championship. They can now go out here and win Talladega, Martinsville and every one after that. There’s no stopping the No. 2 team. From here on out, they are only going to be building momentum to go into the 2014 season!

It feels like all right is in the world again. I’m wearing my CHAMPIONS sweater shirt loud and proud today!!