NASCAR At Dover: Not Enough Time For Brad Keselowski To Rebound From Mechanical Issue

While the day started off strong for Penske Racing’s Brad Keselowski, the No. 2 team was forced to overcome multiple issues throughout Sunday’s race at Dover International Speedway to finish 20th.

Just past the 250-lap mark in the 400-lap event, Keselowski hit pit road and the Paul Wolfe-led crew went to work under the hood of the No. 2 Dodge. After running over something on the track, the team had to replace the power steering belt.

Going a lap down to the race leaders, Keselowski had to fight through lapped traffic and work his way back into contention during the final stretch of the race.

After taking the wave around under the eighth caution of the day, Keselowski was forced to hit pit road earlier than the leaders on Lap 338. As pit stops were about to begin for the lead cars, Mike Bliss wrecked off Turn 2 and brought out the caution, trapping Keselowski two laps down to the leaders.

Calling the timing of Bliss’ wreck the “absolute worst time possible,” Keselowski said the caution “killed any chance” at a solid rebound from the power steering issue.

Finally getting the free pass and back on the lead lap on the final restart with 35 laps to go, Keselowski did not have enough time or car left to make a stronger run at the end.

“With the lucky dog, we had to restart behind all the lap-down cars and I passed 10, 12, however many there were, and by then I had used my stuff up when I caught the back of the field,” he said. “Just needed a 500-lap race, I guess.”

Despite his struggles and dropping three spots in the Chase standings, Keselowski remained confident in his team’s ability to recover from a setback during the race.

“It was just one of those races where everything was meant to work against us and we still fought back,” he said. “Sometimes you’ve got to take those disaster days and keep fighting and get the good days or a respectable day.”