Keselowski, 14 others vying for final NASCAR playoff spots

Brad Keselowski likes his chances at Daytona International Speedway, which is somewhat strange considering his recent results at the famed track.

Keselowski has crashed eight times in his last 11 starts at the superspeedway and finished worse than 30th six times. But he’s hardly the only unlucky one at Daytona, where unusual winners and odd top-10s are as common as threewide racing and multicar wrecks.

So maybe Keselowski should feel confident heading into tonight’s regular-season finale, where the 2012 Cup Series champion and 14 others are vying for the final two playoff spots.

“It goes without saying, but this race is going to be wild,” Keselowski said. “I told the team that if I can be one of the last 10 cars left on the last restart, we’ll have a shot and that’s about all you can ask for, especially in this type of scenario.

“We know we have speed and feel really good about our chances. We just need everything to align to make it happen.”

In his first year as a driver/owner at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, Keselowski needs a victory to make the postseason for the 10th consecutive year. It’s the longest streak of anyone outside the current playoff field.

Aric Almirola, Chris Buescher, Harrison Burton, Cole Custer, Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Todd Gilliland, Justin Haley, Erik Jones, Michael Mcdowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bubba Wallace are the other do-or-die guys.

Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. are the only drivers who haven’t yet locked up playoff spots and can make it without winning at Daytona. At least one is guaranteed to get in. Blaney won the exhibition All-star Race and sits third in points, 143 behind regular-season champion Chase Elliott. Truex leads the series in stage wins and ranks sixth in points.

If Blaney or Truex wins at Daytona, the other automatically gets in on points. If a driver already locked into the postseason lands in victory lane, both Blaney and Truex would make the 16-driver field based on points. If there’s another new winner tonight, whoever ends the race with more points between Blaney and Truex would advance.

It’s a little complicated and yet somewhat simple. Either way, it should lead those on the outside looking in to take more chances than usual.

“I think the end could be very chaotic,” defending series champ Kyle Larson said. “Obviously you have to get to the end to have a shot to win. I don’t know if the first couple of stages will be that crazy. I don’t know what’s going through other drivers’ minds, guys who are in position that they have to win to make the playoffs.”

Despite failing to win a race, Blaney and Truex have been two of the more consistent cars all season and got help Thursday when Kurt Busch announced he would miss the start of NASCAR’S playoffs with concussionlike symptoms that have sidelined him for six weeks. His team, 23XI Racing, withdrew the medical waiver that was holding Busch’s postseason spot.

STEVE HELBER/AP Brad Keselowski needs some luck at Daytona International Speedway tonight to secure a playoff spot, though his record at the notoriously crashhappy track doesn’t reflect well on the former champ’s odds.