Brad Third in Tense Texas Showdown

They say everything is bigger in Texas, and on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway that proved to be true regarding Chase for the Sprint Cup drama.

From a P26 start, Brad battled his way through tough car conditions all weekend to gain a shot at victory over two green-white-checkered finishes in the AAA Texas 500 in Fort Worth. Although BK wasn’t able to cash in that opportunity to win and advance to the championship round of the Chase as Jimmie Johnson raced to the win, the Deuce ended up with a solid third-place finish. That finish, along with the misfortune of other drivers ahead of him at Texas has put Kes back within striking distance of the Top Four in points going into the final Eliminator Round race at Phoenix next week.

After the race, Brad recapped his day on the track, explaining his team’s work at establishing a rhythm through a race that featured 13 caution flags.

“It was one consecutive loop of yellow after yellow and we couldn’t get momentum but (crew chief) Paul Wolfe and the guys did a great job of never giving up and adjusting and having good strategy at the end,” Brad said. “We almost made a win out of it despite that. In the end, Jimmie (Johnson) was just stronger than we were.”

THE PASS

After the race, BK and Jeff Gordon were at the center of one of the most heated brawls in recent NASCAR history. The incident all stemmed from a pass Brad made on the first of two GWC restarts at the end of the race.

Kes restarted on the inside of the second row with Johnson in front of him, Harvick in Row 2 to his right and Gordon in the front row on the outside. Gordon drifted up the track, leaving a window in the middle for Brad’s No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion. With clean air in his sights, BK moved through the opening but rubbed against the right side of Gordon’s No. 24 Chevy.

“There was a gap, (and) it closed up. By the time it closed up, I was committed, and I stayed in it. That almost won me the race. It hurt somebody else’s day. That’s a shame. But the reality is there was a gap,” he said. “I’m not Dale Earnhardt or Senna. They would sit here and tell you they would go for that same gap. I’m not them, but I’m inspired by that, and I’m going to race that way.”

Brad drove on to duel with Johnson for the race lead, but the contact with Gordon caused the No. 24’s tire to fail, which brought out another caution.

On the second GWC attempt, Brad couldn’t match the speed of Johnson and also took some incidental contact from Kevin Harvick, forcing him to settle for a third-place finish. After the race, Brad explained the move he made to pass Gordon on the first attempt.

“I’m here to win races for Roger Penske. That means when there’s a gap, I have to take it,” he said. “If it requires a tiny bit of rubbing, that’s OK. I’m not trying to dish out something that I couldn’t take myself. But these guys have their own code, and they race differently than that. That’s their right.”

Penske also came to the aid of his driver, releasing a statement that he fully backs Brad’s actions and expects him to make the type of move he made in pursuit of his second Cup championship.

“Brad Keselowski is a champion who competes to win in every race, which is what I expect of him,” Penske said in a statement. “While the actions by others following the race in Texas were unfortunate, Brad has my 100 percent support as we now move on to Phoenix for the next stage of the NASCAR championship.”

THE BRAWL

At the conclusion of the race, Gordon, who finished in P29, drove to Brad’s pit stall and confronted the driver of the No. 2 Ford.

Immediately, the No. 2 and No. 24 crews began arguing as Gordon approached Brad, who explained his side of the incident and began to walk away, at which point the argument appeared to be dissipating.

But Harvick, who finished second, approached BK from the other side of his car and pushed him back into the fray, allowing Gordon to grab ahold of the collar of Brad’s fire suit. After BK was pushed back into the mass of people, the brawl was on. Members of several crews were involved, either fighting or attempting to break up the melee. Both Brad and Gordon came away with facial lacerations and bruising.

Following the events, Harvick told the media why he pushed Brad back into a fight that didn’t involve any members of his No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet team, or even any of his teammates at Stewart-Haas Racing.

“I didn’t get in the middle of anything,” Harvick claimed. “I just turned him around and told him to go fight his own fight.”

Brad, who is still on NASCAR probation due to his involvement in post-race incidents at Charlotte Motor Speedway last week, explained why he did what he could to avoid the frenzy.

“I came here to race, not fight. If I wanted to be a fighter, I would have joined the UFC or have a management team like he does,” Brad said. (Kevin Harvick Inc. manages multiple UFC fighters) “I came here to race, 100 percent. That’s what I did today…The people that want to see fights are not true race fans. They need to watch UFC … because that’s not true racing. I know in my heart that I raced 100 percent and did what should be done to be a professional race car driver.”

THE RACE

It was an arduous weekend from start to finish for the 2 Crew, as Brad started the race in P26 after a rare rough qualifying time. It was just his third start outside of the Top 10 in the last 16 races. Additionally, his best run in any practice session was 14th in Happy Hour.

Despite the early weekend struggles, it didn’t take long for the 2012 champ to move into the mix on race day. He reported tight handling going into Turns 1 and 3 early on, as well as a loose condition on exit, but the 2 Crew made air pressure adjustments on its first stop of the day after a lap 41 caution.

The changes began to kick in on the next run, and by lap 50, Brad cracked the top 15, though the Deuce still needed more to become a Top 10 car. The No. 2 continued to struggle with turning, and constant yellow caution flags made it even more difficult for him to find rhythm throughout the race. Still the 2 Crew kept up with constant chassis and air pressure changes to adapt to the changing surface in Texas.

“Yeah, we just weren’t as fast as we wanted to be. Pretty much all weekend that was the case. It was a scratch and claw fest. We needed some breaks to get back in it and every time I thought we were going to catch one it would kind of fall short,” Kes explained. “Whether it was coming in and putting tires on and driving all the way to fifth and needing to get to fourth to be in one of the front two lanes and the yellow came out. That jammed us up.”

Brad clawed his way into the top 10 by lap 146, and eventually took the lead for the first time after Wolfe and Co. made a bold move on lap 251 to stay on the track instead of pitting. The move put Kes in the lead for 18 laps, but Johnson sprinted back into the lead by lap 269.

One of many yellow flags flew at lap 321, setting up a critical restart with nine laps left. It was then that Brad rocketed from fifth past Harvick to third, which put him in position to race for the lead after Clint Bowyer wrecked to start the green-white-checkered process.

On the first attempt, Brad passed Gordon and was neck-and-neck with Johnson when the yellow flag came out again just before the two reached the white flag.

On the final restart at lap 339, Brad pushed his nose past Johnson, but didn’t quite have the power he needed to complete the pass. Moments later, Harvick gave Brad a bump in his right-rear, causing him to bobble up the track and fall to third. Afterward, Kes didn’t take exception to the hit he took from Harvick on that final restart, and he didn’t apologize for the similar bump he gave to Gordon.

“I am doing everything I can to win this championship racing at 100 percent and that is something I am not going to be ashamed for,” Brad said. “If I was out there wrecking guys to do it, that would be one thing, but a little bit of rubbing is how this sport was created and probably how it should move forward. I don’t mind getting raced that way and I don’t mind racing that way. I got a little rub there at the end too from the 4 car and that was just good racing. I am proud of our effort but just wish I would have been able to make two more spots out of it.”

Even after taking second, Harvick couldn’t catch the No. 48. In the end, as Brad said, Johnson simply had the race winning car. He led 191 laps on the night and joined Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. as the second straight non-Eliminator Round qualifier to win a race.

“Even with a little bit older tires he was just stronger,” Brad said of Johnson. “I didn’t have the turn I needed to really run with him and he did a great job holding us off. That was just the story of the night.”

THE CHASE

While Brad fell just shy of grabbing the victory that would’ve locked his place in the four-man finale at Homestead, third-place finish put him in excellent position to grab a spot during the final Eliminator race at Phoenix.

ELIMINATOR ROUND POINT STANDINGS

1. Joey Logano (4,072) +12

2. Denny Hamlin (4,072) +12

3. Ryan Newman (4,070) +10

4. Jeff Gordon (4,060) —

5. Matt Kenseth (4,059) -1

6. Carl Edwards (4,059) -1

7. Brad Keselowski (4,055) -5

8. Kevin Harvick (4,054) -6

With no automatic bids awarded so far in this round and all eight drivers close enough in points to fall below or rise above the fourth-place cutoff line, the action is sure to be as hot as ever at Phoenix International Raceway for the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500.

Brad is yet to win at Phoenix, though he has four Top 10s and three Top 5s in 10 NSCS starts at the track. He also has nine Top 10s and eight Top 5s in Nationwide Series competition at the one-mile tri oval. He won the pole and finished third at Phoenix earlier this season.

The final race of the Eliminator Round and the penultimate event of the season is set for a 3 p.m. ET green flag and will be broadcast on ESPN.