BK 2014 Top 10: No. 6

Brad Keselowski’s 2014 campaign was one to remember in all three NASCAR series. So over the course of the offseason, we’re going to countdown the Top 10 best moments from one of the most successful seasons in BK’s racing career.

At No. 6 are a series of events where the pressure created by the new Chase format boiled over with BK in the middle of the drama in Charlotte and Texas.

No. 6: Chase Drama

After several seasons under a 10-race playoff format that had 12 qualified drivers accumulate points throughout with the highest total declared the winner, NASCAR decided to overhaul the Sprint Cup Series postseason format prior to the 2014 season.

The new 10-race playoff featured 16 drivers and four rounds. Each of the first three rounds of the playoffs featured a three-race stretch after which four drivers were eliminated and the points reset. The new format culminated in a one-race finale with four remaining teams vying for the coveted Sprint Cup.

The new Chase for the Sprint Cup brought plenty of drama to the postseason in NASCAR’s top series, just as NASCAR intended.

The new format made it so that a poor finish in any of the three races in each round could be enough to sink a driver—but it also provided the drivers with a way out. A win in any of the three races would punch their ticket to the next round—so drivers raced fervently for victories each and every weekend.

As the postseason rolled along, more drivers were eliminated and the drama only swelled, both on and off the track—and Brad Keselowski found himself getting under the skin of several competitors, resulting in two post-fight fracases.

CLASH IN CHARLOTTE

Before the new Chase format debuted, Brad predicted that Round 2—the Contender Round featuring races in Kansas, Charlotte and Talladega—would be the most treacherous of the three-round fight to the finish.

“The contender bracket, that one scares the (expletive) out of me. Kansas and Talladega are just two tracks where they have been wreck-fests,” Brad said before the postseason began. “The only way you can really feel comfortable with that bracket is if you go to Charlotte and win the race. I think that bracket will break some hearts and that is the most concerning thing to us.”

The Contender bracket was off to a rough start for Brad after a blown tire at Kansas Speedway ruined a promising day and dropped him to the cellar of the points standings.

With a restrictor plate race at Talladega Superspeedway—essentially NASCAR’s version of a crapshoot—looming in the final race of the round, Kes approached Charlotte as a must-win situation, and he wasn’t the only driver with that outlook.

Brad started in position No. 17 for the Bank of America 500, making it an uphill battle from the beginning.

The No. 2 Detroit Genuine Parts team made tweaks throughout the night and had the Light Blue Deuce in position to fight for the win.

But beginning with a restart at lap 272, things got intense over the final stretch of the race.

Brad was running alongside Denny Hamlin at the front of the pack, and was clipped in the right rear by Matt Kenseth, who was attempting to make a pass on the high side. After the contact, Kes fell back in the field and Kenseth fell off the lead lap.

Not long after, and just ahead of a green-white-checkered finish, Kenseth took exception to the earlier contact and bumped the nose of Brad’s No. 2 while the race was still under yellow. The contact caused Brad to fall back to a P16 finish, and it also played a role in him making contact with Denny Hamlin. Kenseth finished in P19 and Hamlin finished ninth, as all three took a hit in the Chase standings.

“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.”

After the race, the stress of the Chase was on full display.

During the cool-down lap, Hamlin showed his displeasure and brake-checked BK. Kes responded by bumping the left-rear of Hamlin’s No. 11.

“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.”

Next, as the field drove down pit road and back to the garage, Brad traded paint with Kenseth, and the two ran into the rear of Tony Stewart, who retaliated by reversing and slamming into the nose of the No. 2.

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

Shortly after, Hamlin exited his car and attempted to confront Brad, but he was held back by his crew members. Kes walked away from the situation and back to his hauler.

As he walked down the alley between his and teammate Joey Logano’s hauler, he was confronted by Kenseth. The two wrestled for a few seconds before No. 2 crew chief Paul Wolfe pulled Kenseth away. Pushing and shoving between crew members of the No. 2 and No. 20 teams ensued for nearly a minute before the fight dissipated.

The incident was a signal that the Chase was truly on.

LONE STAR SHOWDOWN

Brad went on to pull of a miraculous win at Talladega and advance to the Eliminator Round, where the drama only increased. With eight drivers remaining, each felt that their shot at a title was so close, but still so far away—and that each spot in each race mattered that much more.

Just like in the Contender Round, Brad’s start to the Eliminator Round was marked by bad luck. A broken part at Martinsville Speedway ended BK’s hopes for a solid finish and ensured that the 2012 Champion’s quest for a title would be anything but mundane.

The following week at Texas, one of the wildest moments in NASCAR history took place.

On the first of two green-white-checkered finishes, Brad restarted behind in Row 2 behind Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports teammates. During the reset, Gordon slid up the track, opening a window for Kes to drive through and attempt to take the lead.

Gordon quickly realized his mistake and tried to close the door on Brad, but instead he rubbed his right-rear tire against the No. 2. Seconds later, Gordon’s tire went down, pulling the trigger on another GWC restart, and ultimately resulting in Gordon’s P29 finish.

Brad went on to finish third, and immediately after the race, Gordon drove over to the 2 Crew’s pit stall and confronted Kes.

The two shared some words, and the argument appeared to be dissipating as Brad walked away from the No. 24 driver—until Kevin Harvick came into the picture.

The No. 4 driver and eventual Cup champion pushed Brad back toward Gordon, allowing the No. 24 driver to grab the collar of BK’s fire suit. When this happened, a brawl ensued.

Several crew members from Brad’s team, Gordon’s team and Kasey Kahne’s No. 5 team, were in the middle of the melee, along with reporters, NASCAR officials, photographers and others. Both BK and Gordon came way with facial lacerations and bruising.

The incident was the talk of the sport from then on out and all the way through the postseason banquet. But Brad, though embarrassed by the post-race fight, always was adamant that what he did on the track was the correct move with the championship on the line.

“The opportunity was there for the other individuals to get out of it scot-free and they didn’t capitalize on it. I hated it ruined their day, but I don’t feel bad or feel the need to apologize for laying it all out there and trying to win a race,” Brad said after the season. “A baby seal doesn’t want to get eaten by a whale, but a whale’s got to eat, you know? And then when he (gets eaten), should he be mad at the whale, or should he be mad he wasn’t the fastest swimmer?”

Brad certainly never took to the track looking for a fight, and he was never proud that he and his crew were involved in such extra curricular activities.

But there is no doubting that, no matter how ugly they might have been, the incidents in the Chase involving BK were some of the most exciting and attention-drawing moments, not only of this season, but in the recent history of the sport.