HAMPTON, Ga. – Brad Keselowski didn’t want to talk too much about how his team was going to prepare for the final race before the Chase as he hustled through the garage area to his motor home here Sunday night.
The defending Sprint Cup champion said he wasn’t “zoned in” to Richmond for next Saturday night’s race.
When he does get zoned in, it is not going to be a nice place to be.
Keselowski was leading the AdvoCare 500 on Lap 244 when he lost two cylinders. He finished 35th after his engine blew completely 18 laps from the finish. The 29-year-old is trying to avoid being just the second Cup champion since Tony Stewart in 2006 to not make The Chase. Now he’s down to his last chance to qualify for the 2013 12-car playoff.
Keselowski came into Sunday’s race 11th in the points with no wins. He’s now 15th in the points with one “regular season” race to go.
“I’m beyond frustration,” he said. “At this point you’re just looking above going, ‘this must be some kind of test to prove how strong we are, and what our character is’ ... I love challenges, and this is going to be one hell of a challenge.”
Ryan Newman is 14th in the points, eight ahead of Keselowski, but he has a win this season. Keselowski is 10 points behind 13th place Martin Truex, Jr., but Truex also has a win. The two wild cards come from drivers 11-20 in points and wins are trump cards. Kasey Kahne, who is 12th in points, likely has one of the two wild cards nailed down with two wins.
“We don’t dictate our own fate, which is never good,” Keselowski said. “We continue to show that we at least have the pieces of what it takes every week to be a title threat and to be in the Chase, but we just haven’t put together all those pieces, and that’s what it takes.”
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