Despite being firmly on the cusp of NASCAR’s top tier for the near-entirety of the 2018 season, Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski has yet to land in Victory Lane through 19 races.
Perhaps because, in his words, his team is not “great” enough.
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“We’ve been good, not great this year, and this is a sport of great,” said Keselowski, whose third-place finish Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway was his best result since a runner-up at Atlanta. “You know, you’ve got to be great to win. This is the closest we’ve been to great this year on the mile‑and‑a‑halfs.”
While he was just short of a win, again, Keselowski made sure to give props to his No. 2 crew following the race. They’re not quite there yet, but they’re inching closer to NASCAR’s upper echelon that includes Kentucky winner and Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick.
Each of those drivers has won a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title since 2014. Keselowski was crowned champion in 2012, and finished fourth to their respective 1-2-3 placement in the final 2017 standings.
“At least at the start of the race, we were able to run with Martin,” Keselowski explained. “As the race progressed we couldn’t stay with him, but all in all, that’s still as fast as we’ve been on a mile‑and‑a‑half this year, and that’s something commendable for my team.”
Teammate Ryan Blaney, the youngest driver in the top 10 in the standings and on pace for his best career average finish, echoed the veteran’s sentiment after his first top five since Texas.
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“Like Brad said, we’re good right now,” Blaney said. “We’ve got to be great, and I think we’re on the verge of that. It’s just a matter of keep on working hard and trying to find little things here and there to put us in that category.”
The increase in performance — or, at least, the closing of the gap between the Nos. 2, 12 and 22 of teammate Joey Logano, a one-time winner in 2018, and the “Big Three” — is more a source of extra motivation for the Penske bunch more than a reason to lament that they’re not where they want to be yet.
“Yeah, I don’t know if frustrating is the right word,” Keselowski said. “You know, we can see the end of the tunnel, and we’re just 20 yards away.
“It’s just a matter of getting there, not taking a step back and taking a step forward.”
The trio now heads north to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where a JGR car or Harvick has won six straight races since the start of 2015, but Keselowski and Logano swept in 2014.