Keselowski seeks to keep Cup title hopes alive

Brad Keselowski moved to Team Penske to become a NASCAR champion and industry leader.

He achieved his first goal in 2012 when he won the Cup title, the first for team owner Roger Penske in NASCAR competition. Keselowski also earned Penske’s 500th victory and in 2019 passed Mark Donohue as the winningest driver in Penske history.

Keselowski’s time with the Penske organization is in its final two-race stretch, and he’d like nothing more than to leave with a second Cup title. To grab that one final trophy on his way out the door,

Keselowski will have to race his way into the championship finale on Sunday at

Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.

He’s six points below the cutline with three spots up for grabs at Martinsville. Kyle Larson is the only driver already qualified for the winner-take-all Nov. 7 title-deciding finale at Phoenix.

Keselowski doesn’t have to win Martinsville to earn one of the remaining championship berths.

“Even if we don’t win the race, realistically, if we put up a lot of stage points and do all those things, we’ve got a great shot, so I feel pretty good about this weekend,” he said.

The four drivers above the cutline are Hendrick Motorsports teammates Larson and Chase Elliott, the reigning Cup champion, as well as Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.

Below the cutline are all three Team Penske drivers — Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano — as well as JGR driver Martin Truex Jr.

Keselowski is leaving to become driver and part-owner at Roush Fenway Racing, where he’ll fulfill his goal of having an important voice in the sport after 12 seasons driving for Penske that have included 34 Cup victories, a Cup title, an Xfinity Series title and the recruitment of Logano to the organization. Noah Gragson said he’d win at Martinsville Speedway to earn a spot in the Xfinity Series championship and did just that in NASCAR’s most compelling title race. Gragson, 23, had to win at Martinsville to make the winnertake-all Xfinity finale and did it in two overtimes before joining the crowd in celebration. He chugged a beer handed to him through the Martinsville fence by a spectator as he prodded the fans for more cheers.

Gragson beat Austin Cindric to join the reigning champion in the Xfinity Series title race. Los Gatos native AJ Allmendinger and Daniel Hemric clinched the other two spots.

Chuck Burton / Associated Press 2010 Team owner Roger Penske and driver Brad Keselowski have been successful together.