NASCAR: Brad Keselowski out of playoff contention?

Method No. 2 – Win a race

If RFK Racing do not appeal the penalty or do not get the penalty overturned, the playoff situation for Brad Keselowski and the #6 team looks much more dire, but there is plenty of time for that to change. Keselowski could lock himself into the playoffs by winning at least one race between now and the end of the regular season.

While winning may seem like a tall task most weeks for RFK Racing, which haven’t collected a points-paying win since July 2017, it certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Keselowski and teammate Chris Buescher each won their Daytona 500 qualifying race earlier this season and Keselowski led 67 laps in the Daytona 500, the most of any driver in the race.

The Cup Series is set to return to Daytona International Speedway in August for the regular season finale, and fellow superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway, where Keselowski has six wins, is scheduled to host a race in April.

The Cup Series also plans to use the superspeedway aero package and engine package when the series returns to Atlanta Motor Speedway in July. Those three tracks should present Keselowski with his best opportunities to win.

With the Next Gen car and all of the parity that it has produced, it is very possible that Keselowski could win on any given week, especially at tracks where he has won before, including Pocono Raceway, Kansas Speedway, Dover Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Richmond Raceway, Martinsville Speedway, and Darlington Raceway.

Should Keselowski win a race, he would still have to end the regular season in 30th place or better in the point standings to be playoff eligible. But this is a very achievable goal when you consider the fact that the penalty only put Keselowski only 34 points behind 30th, a gap that could be overcome in a single race weekend.