This past weekend, Brad Keselowski earned his third victory of the season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. While he may not have the superior reputation that Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick have this season, there’s more than meets the eye to the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion’s quest for a second title. If we dig a little deeper, he’s making a convincing argument that he could be the favorite should he advance to the Championship 4.
Now, there’s no denying that Hamlin and Harvick have been the class of the field in 2020. With 15 top-10s that include eight top-fives, it’s reasonably safe to assume Keselowski is that third car to beat. While the Michigan-native does have three wins on this season, two of those came at the expense of blunders by the No. 9 team. However, there have been two instances where the Team Penske driver has been the standard for dominance, and that is where the quarrel comes into play.
We all bared witness to Keselowski’s impressive race-high 184-lap leading performance at ‘The Magic-Mile.’ Another race many are quick to forget is the one at Phoenix Raceway. The driver of the No. 2 seemed well on his way to his first victory of the season after a stage win and pacing the field for 82 laps until a questionable pit stop from third with a handful of laps remaining derailed his day.
What’s the significance of these specific performances? For the first time in 19 years, the championship will be crowned at a venue other than Homestead-Miami Speedway, and it’s at the one-mile Arizona track. Loudon is also often hailed in great comparison to Phoenix Raceway, even more importantly, how these events were carried out for 2020.
To improve competition at specific tracks, NASCAR developed a series of implementations to enhance their product, a new low-downforce rules package, softer tires developed by Goodyear, and application of the PJ1 traction compound.
In excelling at these two venues with the mirrored similarities and standards, Keselowski and his No. 2 team are making a convincing case to be considered the favorites come November given the seemingly large notebook they’ve amassed for these races.
His only obstacle? Physically being in position come Phoenix.
Keselowski has had an eerily similar routine in the last two seasons. He’ll start scorching hot, fade away (but still run consistently) at about the halfway point and then he’ll fail to make it past the Round of 8 — but this year feel different for many reasons.
In what Keselowski called “silently one of the best years of his career,” the new and improved No. 2 crew seems to be clicking on all cylinders. One of the biggest storylines heading into 2020 was the team-wide crew chief swap at Team Penske. This separated the 10-year relationship between Paul Wolfe and the 34-year-old as he inherited Jeremy Bullins from the No. 12 team. Many thought he got the short-end of the stick in this exchange, but it’s certainly looking like the complete opposite.
Riding a five-race top-10 streak, including two consecutive weeks of finishing first and second, Keselowski and his team seem more composed than ever and is showing no signs of slowing down. Not to mention, a significant weight has been lifted off the former champion’s shoulders after officially signing a contract extension with Team Penske on Monday.
It’s now a matter of capitalizing on the momentum and carrying it through the Playoffs. With the various schedule changes for 2020, Keselowski has won at every postseason race aside from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval leading up to the series finale at Phoenix.
The only other track he has not won at in the Playoffs is actually Phoenix. Still, given the success Team Penske’s overall success there over the last few years, it could be the turning of the tides for Keselowski when NASCAR returns to the desert. And what better way to secure his first victory at Zoomtown U.S.A. than in the finale?
There’s still a lot of racing left and lots of uncertainty before we get to that point, but Keselowski is sure to be a force come November, whether he’s in contention for the championship or not.
