Keselowski’s ‘must-win’ victory turns into fourth-place rally

RELATED: Full race results | Updated standings

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Brad Keselowski had the checkered flag in his reach Sunday night.

A race that the No. 2 Ford driver had called a “must-win” for his team, Keselowski collected two stage wins and led 108 laps, but his hope of crossing the start/finish line first crumbled quickly as he was sent up the track by Chase Elliott with less than 10 laps remaining.

“I haven’t seen the video,” Keselowski said after finishing fourth. “I just knew I got in the corner and he (Elliott) was inside me and we had contact. I haven’t seen any more of that to really have any clarity to it. The track is just real slick on the restarts for everybody. You saw that.”

Under the new LED lights at the Virginia track, tensions were high as the First Data 500 came to a conclusion. With Championship 4 positions on the line for the eight remaining playoff drivers, it’s to be expected that aggressive driving comes with the territory. Especially at a track like Martinsville, and that’s something Keselowski understands.

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“It takes about five laps for anyone to get going or more, especially the leader, but there was a lot of hard fighting here because it’s a short track,” Keselowski said. “That’s what short tracks are kind of about is rooting and gauging. You try not to take anybody out.”

Keselowski’s Team Penske teammate Joey Logano was battling for a top-five finish late in the race until a blown tire ultimately caused him to spin out on Lap 493, which brought out a caution while Keselowski had the lead. Racing on the ensuing restart set up the eventual Keselowski-Elliott contact.

Several drivers after the race were asked if they thought the No. 22 driver, who is not in the playoff hunt, should have pitted with a tire rub to avoid a potential yellow flag, especially with his teammate leading the race.

“I think we’ve all got to be smarter for our company,” Kyle Busch, winner of the First Data 500 explained. “Certainly I think Logano lost his opportunity, lost his chance to win. I think they’re not really racing for anything, if you will … you’ve got to look at the greater good of the company, I would like to expect that our guys are smart enough to do that.”

Keselowski is third place in the NASCAR Playoffs standings — 38 points behind leader Martin Truex Jr, who notched a quiet second-place run on Sunday, but 29 points above the cutoff line.

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