Harvick, Truex clinch NASCAR final four
Pair joins Kyle Busch among title hopefuls, Keselowski sits in 4th
FORT WORTH – Brad Keselowski exited Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 with a decent grasp on the fourth and final playoff spot ahead of the final race before the championship field is set.
Given what occurred on the first lap, the Team Penske driver hardly lamented his fifth-place finish.
“We’ll take it,” Keselowski said. “I still want more. I hate to give up those stage points. Nineteen points isn’t terrible for a cushion. We’ll need to go and have a solid race at Phoenix next week and hope none of the other guys win.”
Two more title-eligible slots in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs were taken at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday. Kevin Harvick’s victory, his first in Texas, locked him in, and Martin Truex Jr.’s runner-up finish gave him enough points to secure a spot. With last week’s win, Kyle Busch became the first driver to attain a slot in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in two weeks.
“I’m happy to get to victory lane here. It’s been a long time coming,” Harvick said. “I knew I had a really good car. ... I waited until the end and was able to get on the outside of Martin. I’m real proud of everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing.”
Keselowski had to pit on the first lap of the 500-mile race after Busch drifted up the track and made contact. That put him a lap down in 39th place.
“Something happened on lap one, and basically we started the race last and a lap-and-a-half down,” Keselowski said. “That cost us a bunch of stage points, but we rallied with a solid effort
to get back to fifth. I’m happy for that.”
Keselowski has a 19-point lead on Denny Hamlin, who is fifth in the standings entering next Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway.
Hamlin, who finished third Sunday, and Ryan Blaney (22 points behind Keselowski) are certainly within striking distance. The two Hendrick Motorsports drivers (Chase Elliott and seventime champ Jimmie Johnson), however, will likely need to win at Phoenix to secure a spot in the finals.
Elliott started 34th after his car failed to clear technical inspection and didn’t make a qualifying run Friday. He rallied to finish eighth but is 49 points behind Keselowski. “We just never really hit on it,” Elliott said. “It was a very frustrating afternoon. We’ll just go on to Phoenix. We are going to try to get a victory and go on to Homestead.”
Johnson, who had won for the seventh time on this 1.5-mile oval in April, started ninth and slowly drifted back in the pack as the race wore on. He finished in 27th place, three laps down.
Johnson has won four times at Phoenix, but not since 2009. “In places where we expect to run well and traditionally do, we haven’t,” Johnson said.
“(But) one thing this team will never do is give up.”