NASCAR Cup Series: 5 playoff drivers who are in jeopardy
By Asher Fair
NASCAR playoff drivers in jeopardy: No. 5 – Brad Keselowski
Of the five drivers on this list, no driver has a longer active playoff streak than Brad Keselowski. The driver of RFK Racing’s #6 Ford is one of five drivers who has qualified for the playoffs in each of the first eight seasons of the knockout style playoff format dating back to 2014.
Three of the other four — Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick — have already punched their tickets to this year’s postseason, and 23XI Racing’s Kurt Busch would have done so as well, but he requested that his medical waiver be rescinded.
But all eight seasons during Keselowski’s streak have come with Team Penske, and he made the move to Roush Fenway Racing (now RFK Racing) after the 2021 season not only to replace Ryan Newman but to become a co-owner of the team.
While it’s safe to say that there have been some improvements throughout the season, it is also safe to say that the season has been a major disappointment for the 2012 champion.
Even without the 100-point penalty he was issued after the first race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he would be in a must-win situation heading into the regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway, having finished no higher than seventh place in any race this year.
Fortunately for him, he has seven career superspeedway victories to his name, and he led a race-high 67 laps of the season-opening Daytona 500 after winning his Bluegreen Vacations Duels qualifying race. In fact, despite a disappointing ninth place finish in the race, he left the track tied for the points lead.
Now sitting in 27th place in the standings, he’ll need to finish eight spots better than he did in February to earn a ninth consecutive playoff berth.
Next. Kyle Busch fires back at NASCAR. dark
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