Brad Keselowski needed a last-ditch victory to advance out of the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and a similar result will now be required to again skirt elimination.
2014 NASCAR standings: Brad Keselowski in points hole, facing another must-win situation
For the second consecutive round in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Brad Keselowski finds himself on the brink of elimination.
Jonathan Moore
A broken transmission sent Keselowski to the garage early Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. Although he would return to the track, Keselowski was 28 laps down and finished 31st.
With two races remaining in the Eliminator Round, Keselowski is 26 points behind the Chase cutoff. Unless he can win at either Texas Motor Speedway or Phoenix International Raceway, Keselowski will likely be eliminated from the Chase.
“This kind of puts us in a position now where we need to win,” Keselowski said. “This Chase lends itself to those moments and we’re a team that’s capable of them, so we’ll try to be as positive as we can and move forward with two more opportunities to do just that.”
Keselowski had overcome an earlier pit road speeding penalty, and narrowly escaped becoming swept into a crash involving Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers. But the mechanical failure proved inescapable, causing Keselowski to slow off Turn 4 with 62 laps remaining.
As Keselowski unexpectedly slowed, the field stacked up behind him with Casey Mears rear ending the No. 2 car. The accident involved several drivers and necessitated a red flag of nearly 15 minutes so officials could clear the track.
“We were doing the things we needed to do,” Keselowski said. “We were surviving. We were gonna probably have ourselves a fifth- or sixth-place day, which is certainly something we could be proud of and move forward with.
“Something broke, which was unfortunate not just for us but for the other guys that got tore up in it,” Keselowski said. “It’s just one of those deals, there was nothing you could really do different.”
Texas would appear to be Keselowski’s best chance to grab his seventh victory of 2014. Team Penske has won five of the eight races on 1.5-mile tracks this season -- Keselowski and teammate Joey Logano are the only drivers with multiple victories -- with Logano winning the April Texas race.
“It’s not like we’re just gonna go and guarantee a win at Texas and Phoenix, but it’s also not impossible,” Keselowski said. “We’ve got the team, if there is one to pull it off.
“With this format, we’re by no means out.”
Chase for the Sprint Cup Standings
| Rank | Driver | Points | Behind | Wins |
| 1 | Jeff Gordon | 4044 | 4 | |
| 2 | Ryan Newman | 4041 | -3 | 0 |
| 3 | Joey Logano | 4040 | -4 | 5 |
| 4 | Matt Kenseth | 4039 | -5 | 0 |
| 5 | Denny Hamlin | 4037 | -7 | 1 |
| 6 | Carl Edwards | 4024 | -20 | 2 |
| 7 | Brad Keselowski | 4013 | -31 | 6 |
| 8 | Kevin Harvick | 4011 | -33 | 3 |
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