Keselowski looks to defend Talladega win, save season
TALLADEGA, ALA. >> The winningest active driver at Talladega Superspeedway just might be able to save his season today by defending last year's victory.
Brad Keselowski isn't banking on a seventh Talladega win, though. But if it's in reach, well, Keselowski won't hold back in search of his first victory since leaving Team Penske for an ownership stake at RFK Racing.
“We've got a great shot,” Keselowski said. “If we're anywhere close, I'm going to leave it all out on the line.”
A penalty for illegal modifications made to the No. 6 Ford has devastated Keselowski's first season as a driver-owner and knocked him to bottom of the Cup standings, lower than any other fulltime driver. It took him a month to climb from 35th in points to 30th — a mark he hit last week at Bristol that makes him eligible for the playoffs should he win a race.
His best chances at victory are likely at Daytona or Talladega.
Keselowski and teammate Chris Buescher each won a qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway in February, but the RFK organization has not won a Cup points race since 2017. The team won twice that year — both races on a superspeedway, with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. sweeping the two stops at the Alabama track when the team was known as Roush Fenway Racing.
The organization has not won on any type of track besides a superspeedway since a 2014 win by Carl Edwards at Sonoma.
So the speedway races seem to be Keselowski's best shot to extend his streak of playoff appearances to nine consecutive years.
“I think there's probably a little bit of truth to that, but honestly I'm looking at the next month and I'm really excited about the races we have,” Keselowski said. “I think we can win any one of them. We've got a lot of good stuff coming down the pipeline. We're starting to figure some things out and find some of the missing puzzle pieces, so I'm not ready to say that we have to win on a (superspeedway) to advance to the playoffs.”
• Ryan Blaney is the 10-1 favorite to win today, per FanDuel Sportsbook. Blaney is a two-time winner at Talladega and was racing Austin Cindric for the win in the Daytona 500 when Cindric threw a block that put Blaney into the wall.
• There are 10 previous Talladega winners in the field, and Joey Logano at three victories trails Keselowski among active drivers. The late Dale Earnhardt holds the record with 10 victories.