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When the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series take to the track at Homestead-Miami next weekend all the focus is going to be on Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman. One of those drivers is going to win their first-ever NASCAR championship and as a result they deserve to be under the spotlight. One of the minor storylines heading into the finale of the 2014 season might be Brad Keselowski and whether he is able to make it to the checkered flag without incident.
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Keselowski is no longer in contention for the title this season. There are also a couple of other drivers that will be racing on Sunday that are out of title contention and might also have a score to settle with the driver of the No. 2 machine. Two of the biggest moments of the 2014 chase were post-race fights in which Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon went after Keselowski. Since the Kenseth incident at Charlotte and the Gordon incident at Texas neither driver has had any further dust-ups with Keselowski. However, this will be the first race since those incidents that both Kenseth and Gordon are not in contention for a title and consequently have nothing to lose.
I am not suggesting that Gordon or Kenseth are going to go out of their way to wreck Keselowski. I am not even suggesting that when the green flag waves this weekend that Keselowski is even going to be on the minds of Kenseth or Gordon.
What I am suggesting though is that once the race is underway it might not take much for Keselowski to reignite something between those drivers or maybe another driver out there. On Sunday Keselowski will be out there racing for the win, like all the other drivers will be doing. If in the process of that he does something that causes contact or irks Kenseth or Gordon it’s hard to believe that they wouldn’t dish it right back to him.
Gordon missed the finale in the chase by one point. Gordon was running in the top-five with less than two laps to go two weeks ago when contact with Keselowski caused him to cut a tire and finish 29th. Had that contact not happened and Gordon finished that race on the lead lap (28 cars finished on the lead lap that day) he would be running for his fifth title. Following Phoenix Gordon made it clear that Keselowski was still on his mind when he talked about how you can race clean and still contend for a title. The disappointment of missing the final race in the chase is still going to be there in a week for Gordon and that disappointment could turn into agitation if Gordon and Kes find themselves close to one another on the track.
Next: 2014 Non-Chase Standings After Phoenix
Keselowski has not made a lot of friends during the 2014 season and in all honesty it doesn’t seem like he really cares. Whether you like Keselowski or not the man without questions races hard and lays it all on the line each and every week. That passion and desire to win at times has left him making some questionable choices and it’s those questionable choices that might come back to bite him in the last race of the season.
Do you think think that Keselowski will end up in an altercation with another driver at Homestead-Miami? Do you think that Kenseth or Gordon will take a shot at him now that they are both out of the chase? Be sure to comment below and let us know how you feel.
Christopher Olmstead is the Editor of BeyondTheFlag.com on the FanSided Network. Follow us on Twitter @Beyond_The_Flag and “Like” us on Facebook.