Two years ago Brad Keselowski opened the Chase for the Sprint Cup by outdueling Jimmie Johnson, a symbolic triumph as Keselowski would later topple Johnson for the championship that season.
As he was celebrating that 2012 win at Chicagoland Speedway, Keselowski spoke about the statement such victory sent to the garage. That any illusion he and Team Penske weren’t serious contenders was pure foolishness and they would be in the championship picture all the way through. An assertion that proved more than correct.
Sunday, on the very same track, Keselowski again made a similar statement.
Despite winning a series-best four races this season, including a dominant victory a week ago at Richmond International Raceway, Keselowski didn’t enter the Chase as the overwhelming favorite. By all appearances the championship was wide-open
Oh, Keselowski was the short list of contenders, but so were Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Joey Logano. Any of whom could get hot and run off a series of victories that under NASCAR’s new playoff format emphasizing winning would likely produce a championship.
But if there wasn’t a clear-cut favorite before there certainly is now.
It wasn’t just that Keselowski won the MyAFibStory.com 400 — it was the manner in which he did so. On an afternoon where Harvick had the fastest car, Keselowski was best when it mattered most.
Rallying from a loose wheel necessitating an extra pit stop, Keselowski charged from 16th to the lead over the final stages. And when he made it back to the front, Keselowski pulled of one of the more bodacious moves of the season, splitting Harvick and Kyle Larson by the narrowest of margins to assume a lead he never gave back.
“I just saw a hole and I went for it,” Keselowski said. “(Harvick) and (Larson) were racing really hard, doing all the things they needed to do. It just opened a hole. I didn’t know if my car would stick or not, but I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t try it.”
Yet while loquacious in winning two years ago, Keselowski exuded more of a quiet confidence Sunday. There was no talk about sending a message or anything of the like. When asked directly if he viewed this victory as a statement, Keselowski chose a big picture outlook.
“I want to be thankful for today, but I know there’s a long ways to go,” Keselowski said. “Today was about as much of a statement as you can make on a week one with 10 weeks to go. I don’t want to understate it but certainly don’t want to overstate it. It’s a hard balance.”
Whether he thought so or not, it’s hard not to view Keselowski’s fifth win of 2014 as something significant. At the least it caused the competition to take notice.
In a series of tweets since deleted, Earnhardt’s road manager, Mike Hoag, questioned the legality of Keselowski’s car. He insinuated the side-skirt was askew on the No. 2 which, on an aerodynamic sensitive track where passing can be difficult, would aid Keselowski’s effort to navigate traffic.
When asked if there was any damage to Keselowski’s car, crew chief Paul Wolfe said he didn’t see any and if there was it likely came from transitioning from the banking to the apron, a common occurrence at Chicagoland.
Keselowski later responded to the allegation directly by tweeting, “Ever heard of glass houses @MikeHoag88?”
Maybe just an innocent comment made in the heat of the moment, the accusation does underscore the budding rivalry between Penske and Hendrick Motorsports. The powerhouses have won 16 of the past 21 races, and talk coming into the Chase centered on the likelihood the championship would be decided between the two teams.
Then there is the history between Keselowski and Hendrick to consider.
The most notable of several incidents occurred a year ago when Keselowski, who used to drive for Hendrick before joining Penske, accused his former team of “stealing” key members from Penske. Team owner Rick Hendrick responded saying Keselowski was “misinformed” and needed to represent the sport with “more class.”
In a sport currently lacking a great rivalry, the makings are certainly there for Keselowski vs. Johnson and Hendrick to fill the void. That rivalry will only develop, however, if Keselowski can continue winning and remain in championship contention.
There is no reason to think he won’t. Although Chicagoland isn’t NASCAR’s most popular track and is lacking an identifiable characteristic, the speedway almost an hour outside downtown Chicago has become a sound gauge of who deserves championship consideration.
Since 2011 when it became the opening Chase race, the driver who won at Chicagoland went on to win the championship two of three years. The only exception is Matt Kenseth, who last year won and then finished runner-up to Johnson in the standings.
In large part, because it is the same size as four other Chase tracks, success at Chicagoland indicates which team is best on intermediate ovals. That would seem to be Keselowski, the only driver with multiple wins on 1.5-mile tracks this season.
But just as he wouldn’t say whether Sunday was a statement, Keselowski isn’t ready to declare that he’s the championship favorite.
“My boss would say don’t read your own press clippings,” Keselowski said. “I want to enjoy the moment but I still know there’s nine weeks to go. … Nobody cares that we won Chicago, nobody cares that we won Richmond or the other three races.
“You have to keep developing the car and pushing as a team, whether it’s on pit road, the car handling, spec, whatever it might be, or driver tactics.”