As his teammate took a big step towards securing a spot in the Chase, defending Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski’s hopes of winning a second straight title were dealt a significant blow Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
NASCAR Atlanta 2013: Gamut of emotions for Penske drivers Keselowski, Logano
Defending NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski’s Chase hopes are all but extinguished after a blown engine Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
John Harrelson
Keselowski had entered Atlanta 11th in points, though only four points out of 10th and certainly in position to climb above the Chase cutoff with two races to go. And he appeared to be doing just that as he climbed into the top-10 and eventually into the lead.
Then, suddenly, as he was comfortably out front with less than 100 laps remaining the engine in his No. 2 Ford developed a misfire. Down two cylinders, Keselowski would limp around the track in an attempt to make it to the checkered flag and accrue as many points as possible. But with 18 laps from the finish, his motor gave out completely.
“What can you do?” Keselowski said. “You can sit here and be mad and stomp your feet and be a jerk about it, but it just broke. That’s racing. It’s kind of been the story of our year.”
The resulting 35th-place finish all but seals Keselowski's fate that he won't be among the 12 drivers who will make up the Chase field. Heading into Saturday's regular season finale at Richmond International Raceway, the reigning Cup champion is ranked 15th, a whopping 28 points behind 10th-place Kurt Busch.
And because he doesn’t have a win to fall back on, Keselowski finds himself in a precarious position even if he were to somehow find Victory Lane at Richmond.
“We don’t dictate our own fate, which is never good,” Keselowski said.
As Keselowski was coming to terms with what has been a frustrating and ultimately unfulfilling year, his Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano was relishing his hard-fought runner-up finish.
In the last three weeks he has finished first, fifth and second and sits eighth overall holding a 10-point cushion over Busch. And barring a catastrophic outing at Richmond, Logano will likely make the Chase for the first time in his five-year career.
“I feel like with three straight top-fives right now we have a really good shot at (winning the title),” Logano said. “I think you can’t count us out right now. This team is super strong and it looks like we’re hitting our stride at the right time right here.
“As long as we get in, first, and then we’ll see what happens.”
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