Chase Tension Rises After 16th Place Finish At Charlotte

The Contender Round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup cranked up on a wild Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the pressure of NASCAR’s new Chase led some sparks to fly.

Despite starting in 17th position in the Bank of America 500, Brad Keselowski worked his way to the lead on three separate occasions. But by the time the dust had settled at Charlotte Motor Speedway, BK was only able to bring home a heavily damaged No. 2 Detroit Genuine Parts Ford Fusion with a 16th place finish.

“First off, the Detroit Genuine Parts Ford was good today,” Brad said following the race. “I thought we were gonna have a fourth- or fifth-place run and just didn’t catch a break in so many different ways, but I’m really proud of everyone at Team Penske.”

It was an uphill battle from the start for Brad, as he and the No. 2 team used every second of track time they could during the week to find a winning package at the 1.5-mile quad oval.

A blown tire last week at Kansas Speedway—coupled with an unpredictable racetrack in Talladega Superspeedway looming next week before the Chase makes its cut for the Eliminator Round—made a win at Charlotte, or at least a top-five finish, almost a necessity.

However, the 2 Crew found themselves 31st after the first practice and just 17th in qualifying—just their second start outside of the Top 10 in the last 13 races. But the work began to pay off on Friday, as the Deuce recorded the seventh- and fifth-fastest times in the final two practice sessions.

Early in the race, Brad’s position remained relatively static as he reported loose handling and a lack of rear grip in the DGP Ford Fusion. A NASCAR-mandated competition caution at lap 25 allowed the No. 2 Crew its first opportunity for tweaks, and the chassis and air pressure adjustments made on that first stop paid dividends immediately.

BK restarted 15th at lap 30, but jumped into the top 10 just seven laps later. At the end of this green-flag run, Brad claimed the lead—for the ninth consecutive race—and earned a bonus point before making his second stop.

The No. 2 team made some more adjustments during that trip down pit road and afterward, the Light Blue Deuce began to take off.

With a stronger car, Kes became the aggressor and at lap 110, he bolted ahead of Kurt Busch, putting him into the Top 5 for the first time in the race. Just 10 laps later, he had cracked the top three. He even moved into the lead for the second time at Lap 189 and held it for two laps.

However, as track conditions changed and night fell on Charlotte Motor Speedway over the course of the 334-lap event, the DGP Ford became progressively looser, a condition that haunted Brad late in the race. As the trend continued, BK lost the lead again and dropped back to 10th place by lap 200.

Kes had faded to 12th at lap 240 just before a wreck involving his Penske teammate Joey Logano and Danica Patrick. While Logano regained control of his car, Patrick couldn’t and she made contact with Ryan Newman.

This set up a key strategy call for crew chief Paul Wolfe when the next caution flag flew at lap 266. But while the other leaders pitted, the No. 2 Crew elected to have BK, who was running in fourth, stay out and assume the lead. He held that advantage through the caution period from Lap 268 to 271, but upon the ensuing restart, the trouble that carried on well after the race was over began.

While he battled for the lead with Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 on that Lap 272 restart, Brad was clipped in the right-rear by Matt Kenseth, who was attempting to make a pass on the high side. Though it didn’t take either driver out of the race, the contact set in motion a hectic finish on and off the track.

After the contact, Brad lost the lead to Hamlin, and ultimately, both the No. 2 and Kenseth’s No. 20 fell off the lead lap. BK fell back due to the damage and his old tires and made his final pit stop off sequence under green with 37 laps to go. When the rest of the field cycled through green-flag stops, BK cycled back to the fringe of the Top 5. Though running on old tires as the race came to its conclusion, Brad fought hard to stay up front before the final yellow flag came out with seven laps left.

At that point, he appeared primed for a strong finish that would put him in better position going into the Contender Round’s final race at Talladega.

However, while the race was still under yellow ahead of a green-white-checkered finish, Kenseth made contact with the nose of the No. 2 while taking his wave around to the lead lap. The contact caused further damage to the Deuce going into the final restart and ultimately may have both cost BK a Top 5 finish and caused his late race issue with Hamlin.

“Through the whole sequence of events – I think the 20 car got in back of me on one of the restarts (at lap 271)– it was just a racing deal and I wasn’t mad at him,” Brad said, explaining his side of a wild night race at Charlotte. “But when the last yellow (flag) came out he got the wave around and when he came by he swung at my car and tore the whole right front off of it. When we restarted fifth with no right front on it, we fell all the way back to 16th and it ruined our day. That gave us a big Chase hurt, which is unfortunate.”

On this final green-white-checkered restart, BK was racing for every position he could muster, while dealing with a loose-handling Deuce thanks to the move by Kensrth under yellow. While attempting to maintain his position on the track and salavage a Top 10 finish, BK made slight contact with Hamlin, which caused both drivers to fall back even further. Eventually Hamlin’s No. 11 crossed in ninth and Kes finished 16th.

The middle-of-the-pack finish came just one day after Brad took first in the Nationwide Series BCBS Drive for the Cure 300 at Charlotte. Brad edged two Joe Gibbs Racing drivers—Kyle Busch and Kenseth—for the win that moved him into the Top 5 on the all-time Nationwide Series wins list.

However, he couldn’t parlay that momentum into Saturday night and earned just 29 points to bring his total to 3038. he heads to Talladega next Sunday 18 points behind ninth-place Kenseth and 19 points out of the eighth and final in the Eliminator round, currently held by Kasey Kahne.

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

After the race, during the cool-down lap, Hamlin expressed displeasure with the contact his No. 11 took from the No. 2 on the final restart and break-checked Brad.

Kes responded by bumping the left-rear of Hamlin.

“I don’t know what that was all about and he swung and hit at my car. So I figured if we were gonna play car wars under yellow and after the race, I’ll join too,” Brad said immediately after the events unfolded. “Those guys can dish it out, but they can’t take it and I gave it back to them. And now they want to fight. I don’t know what’s up with that.”

Then, as the field headed down pit road, BK found Kenseth looking to send a message that he wasn’t happy with the No. 20 hitting him under yellow before the last restart. Kes rubbed alongside the No. 20 Toyota and, in the process, the two bumped into the back of Tony Stewart.

In retaliation, Stewart gassed his car in reverse and caused heavy damage to the hood of Brad’s No. 2, also causing Brad to back into Patrick.

BK then drove to the garage, where he was met by Hamlin, both drivers still in their vehicles. As Kes tried to drive away from Hamlin to his own hauler, he briefly spun his wheels, leaving burnout marks in the garage.

Shortly after, Hamlin got out of his car and attempted to confront Brad, but was held back by his crew members while BK walked back to his own hauler.

He then walked down the alley between his and Logano’s hauler, where he was confronted from behind by Kenseth. Kenseth wrestled with Brad for a few seconds before No. 2 crew chief Paul Wolfe pulled Kenseth away. As the two drivers were separated, crew members from both sides jumped into the fracas, which lasted nearly a minute before dissipating.

The ordeal, from the frustrating finish to the altercations after, was a frustrating affair for the 2012 champion. The next day, he took to Twitter to explain his thoughts and feelings following the events in Charlotte.

NEXT UP

Brad now faces what is essentially a win-or-go-home situation as the series heads to Talladega for the final leg of the Contender Round.

The unpredictable nature of the restrictor-plate race at Talledega leaves very little room for error and a victory as BK’s only viable shot at advancing.

On the bright side, ‘Dega is one of just four tracks where Kes has multiple wins for his career. In 11 starts, he has two victories, six Top 10s and three Top 5s.

His first win at the track came in 2009 and was also his first career NSCS victory. He also won the 2012 spring run at Talladega on the way to his Cup Championship that season. However, BK hasn’t finished better than 15th in his last three starts at Dega.

He’ll look to break that trend and stay alive in the Chase Sunday. The Geico 500 is set for a 2 p.m. ET start and can be seen on ESPN.

RELATED ARTICLES

• Kenseth, Keselowski fight after Charlotte race (USA Today, Oct. 12, 2014)
• Disappointing 16^th place result for Keselowski (Team Penske, Oct. 12, 2014)
• Kenseth tangles with Keselowski in Charlotte (MotorSportsTalk, Oct. 11, 2014)
• Saturday night fight: Emotions spill over for Kenseth, Keselowski (Fox Sports, Oct. 11, 2014)
• Keselowski, Hamlin make contact in garage (NASCAR, Oct. 13, 2014)