August 29th, 2011 
Journo Two years ago Brad Keselowski, seeing that his opportunities were limited, left his Nationwide ride at JR Motorsports, for a full time Cup ride at Penske Racing. The move was met with mixed reviews.
And in his first full season in 2010, Keselowski struggled. The team averaged a 22.4 finish and scored just two top-10s. They finished the year 25th in points. It was a disappointing way to start out a new partnership.
2011 looked to be shaping up much the same for Keselowski despite a change at crew chief in the off-season. In the first nine races of the year the team didn’t have a finish better than 18th and found themselves mired back in 28th in points. It was a rough start.
Then came Darlington – ten weeks in and the team finished third. It took just two more weeks for Keselowski to win his first race of the season. Since then, there have been some rough patches here and there, but for the most part, the #2 team has been surging.
In the 11 races since that first win, Keselowski has had seven top-10s, four top-fives and two more wins. The team couldn’t have timed their jump in performance any better. With two races to go until the start of the Chase, Keselowski sits 11th in the points with three wins.
In addition to strengthening his chances at a berth, Keselowski’s surge also provides another interesting dynamic to the Chase race. If he can make it into the top-10 – and with his recent performance that is not at all out of the question – one of those two wild card spots open back up. Right now Denny Hamlin, with one win, gets one of the Chase spots and Paul Menard, 20th in points, gets the other. Chasing Menard is David Ragan in 21st and Marcos Ambrose in 22nd.
For Keselowski though, what looked to be a season of struggle, has turned into a season of triumph. The sky’s the limit for team team #2 – if/when he makes the Chase, Keselowski will be tied for second in the points with Kevin Harvick. That is nothing short of impressive, considering even after his first win, Keselowski was beyond the requisite 20th in points.
In the weeks to come this Penske team is definitely one to watch. Competing in and qualifying for the Chase is all about momentum and right now Brad Keselowski has it – perhaps more than any other. Stay tuned.
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Just goes to prove you should never give up. GO “BLUE DEUCE”!!!
He will be tied for second only if he gets the 10th spot correct? I thought the two wild card drived would not get the bonus points for wins at the start of the chase as those wins already provided a bonus for them by allowing them into the Chase.
Really glad to see another driver I heavily supported for a Cup ride fulfill some of the promise! I remember all the naysayers after his rookie year when I said putting Brad in the Miller Deuce was going to be ok, Brad has the talent & obviously has the grit needed, but the big difference has been Paul Wolfe, who is also fulfilling promise.
If Brad can get into the top 10 before the Chase he will get the win bonus points. Wild card 11 & 12 in standings will not get win bonus points because the wins provided entry to the Chase.
I said a week or two ago that if I was a sponsor, I’d be licking my chops for the chance to sign this kid based on his on track and on camera performances. This kid is the real deal both places.
The thing I like about him on track is that he’s a true racer. Some guys can drive a car fast but seem to really be lacking something as far as racing goes…Logano is a good example of that imo. But Kez is both fast and can race. The question now is can he match the gold standard of executing a championship run in what Jimmy brings to the table? That’s an awful lot to ask for this year and I think ‘probably not’. I think. But I won’t say ‘emphatically not’…not with this kid…
The thing I like about him on camera recently is he seems to understand just how important that time is to a modern NASCAR career. He seems to have a bit of a knack for it and probably he’s getting quality coaching for it. IMO Carl is the gold standard for ‘on camera’ and though Brad is still green and developing, he seems to be doing the right things to compete and get his share.
I don’t care whether he surges or not, I despise him and his loudmouthed dad. And if he is criticizing Danica for her self promotion, then maybe he better look at Mr. Shill himself, Michael Waltrip!!! What a hypocrite.
A few weeks ago I was pondering a ATI question about comparing BK’s success to the Joey’s middle of the pack tendencies… I wonder if BK’s time in Nationwide helped him to make transition better than Joey?