LOUDON, N.H.—If winning early in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was a long-term liberating experience for Brad Keselowski, winning last week’s Chase opener at Chicagoland Speedway is more like a hall pass—good for two races until the start of the next elimination round.
After winning the third race of the season, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Keselowski expressed sentiments similar to those voiced by the year’s first two winners, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick—namely that winning, and thereby all but assuring a Chase berth, gave them the freedom to race without fear of trying out-of-the-box strategies.
That was the mind-set Keselowski brought to Richmond in the final regular-season race, and he won in dominating fashion. By then, of course, he had been every bit as dominant in winning at Kentucky and at New Hampshire in July.
“I kind of feel exactly like we did at Richmond,” Keselowski said Friday, after an announcement that his primary sponsor, Miller Lite, also had extended its partnership agreement with New Hampshire Motor Speedway for three years. “We’ve got two races to—I don’t want to say goof off—but with no consequences, and that’s enjoyable.
“Everybody loves it when all you can do it win. It’s like getting a free lottery ticket. If you lose, it doesn’t matter, and you have the potential to win something big. We’re going to have fun with it, and I think we have the ability to capitalize with it with strong cars and a great team, and hopefully we can pull off a sweep here.”
Late Friday Keselowski shattered the track record and won the pole for Sunday’s race.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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