Brad Keselowski wants 2nd NASCAR Cup Series championship to secure legacy

The way Brad Keselowski sees it, there is more on the line Sunday than just the opportunity to win a second NASCAR Cup Series title. Also at stake is his legacy and a guaranteed spot in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Through NASCAR’s 68 years, only 15 drivers have earned multiple premier division championships. Of this select group, 12 have been inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, with the only exceptions the still active Jimmie Johnson, and the recently retired Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, who are not yet eligible. Johnson, the defending Cup champion, Gordon and Stewart are certain first-ballot Hall of Famers when they become eligible.

“Winning one championship is really great,” Keselowski said. “It’s a special thing to do. But, you don’t really have legacies until you have multiples, and that opportunity’s in front of me right now.”

To win a second championship Keselowski will have to beat Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex in Sunday’s best-finish-wins-the-championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Like Keselowski, Busch and Harvick are former titlists with the opportunity to join the multiple championship club, while Truex is seeking his first.

Keselowski won his lone title in 2012, under a different playoff structure. Harvick (2014) and Busch (2015) each won their championships under the current knockout format that eliminates four playoff-eligibles every three races culminating in the Homestead finale.

“It’s almost a certainty that two gets you into the Hall of Fame,” Keselowski said. “Multiple championship drivers always will be. So I see this my chance to make it into the Hall of Fame. That’s something I don’t want to take for granted.

“I literally only have to beat three people to do it. That’s somewhat hard for me to digest or comprehend with all the different scenarios in front of me.”

Although Keselowski was regarded as one of the championship favorites in each of the past three years, this season marks the first time he’s advanced to the finals. A combination of parts failures, bad luck and a lack of execution derailed the Team Penske driver’s playoff run before he could make it to Homestead with his title hopes still intact.

That disappointment isn’t something Keselowski has forgotten. But unlike previous years where the No. 2 Ford was among the fastest cars on the track, this postseason has seen Keselowski and Penske lack consistent competitiveness.

Just to make it out of the semifinal round, Keselowski was fortunate that Chase Elliott retaliated against Denny Hamlin at Phoenix Raceway for a transgression Hamlin committed against Elliott two weeks before. Had Elliott not pushed Hamlin up the track and into the wall, Hamlin was in all likelihood set to claim the final transfer position. And had Matt Kenseth not passed Elliott for the lead with 10 laps remaining, Elliott would’ve advanced to the finals.

Instead, Hamlin and Elliott didn’t make the cut, allowing Keselowski, who labored to finish 16th, to stave off elimination.

“It’s a bit of a strange feeling,” Keselowski said. “I feel, in a lot of ways, that we were more competitive the last three years than we have been this year, and we didn’t make the final four.

“It almost feels like there’s a bit of divine intervention with the way everything went last week to be where I’m at here today. I’m hoping that we can see that through.”

Truex is the favorite to win Sunday, with Busch and Harvick each possessing a reasonable chance to claim the championship hardware. As for Keselowski, conventional wisdom suggests he may again require some divine intervention.

“Sitting here in this moment right now, it’s kind of like everybody’s got a poker hand and we haven’t seen any cards,” Keselowski said. “I need to see some more cards before I can tell you.

“I know Vegas likes to have odds and all that going into it, but this is a very dynamic sport. Although it may not seem like it until you step away from it, things change all the time.”