NASCAR: Five Lessons Learned From the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas

Brad Keselowski Needs to Win at Talladega

Brad Keselowski made a major mistake at Kansas as he thought he had enough room to clear Denny Hamlin at one point of the race.

Keselowski tried to slide up the track in front of Hamlin, got loose, and ended up getting spun out onto the grass as Hamlin couldn’t break enough to avoid hitting the 2 car’s bumper. The 2 car headed toward the grass and took major damage, ending Keselowski’s chances at a decent finish and putting him under the Chase cutoff line.

Now the 2 team is heading into Talladega in a do or die situation. They need to win next weekend if they hope of moving onto the next round, or by some chance if enough Chase drivers run into day-ending issues they could squeak into the next round.

This type of situation is what makes a driver a champion. Can Keselowski overcome his struggles in the Round of 12 and win a race when his back is against the wall? He’s pretty good at Talladega, with four wins in his Sprint Cup career at the super speedway, but the pressure of the Chase is also going to be looming over head and could impact his performance next week.

Keselowski and the 2 team looked like one of the strongest teams heading into the Chase. Once the Chase started though, they were relatively quiet. Now after what happened at Kansas, they have to make noise at Talladega and try everything they can to win if they want to keep going for the Sprint Cup championship.