FORT WORTH, Texas — Brad Keselowski maintained all weekend that in order to win his second Sprint Cup Series championship, he was going to need to win two of the next three races.
The 2012 champion got his one loss out of the way early.
Keselowski’s No. 2 Ford Fusion was the beginning, middle and end of the story of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, dominating the field from the pole to a tune of 312 of 334 laps led — but a second-place finish resulted after being passed by race-winner Jimmie Johnson on the final run of the afternoon.
“We need to win the next two. I understand that. But I think we have a great opportunity to do it, as well,” said Keselowski. ” … We know if we keep running like we have the last two weeks, you know, we’ll win races.”
Throughout the race, it appeared the only thing capable of stopping the No. 2 was a looming potential tire issue — something many heavy hitters, including his teammate, Joey Logano, experienced — but the changes his and Johnson’s teams made during the last round of pit stops shifted the performance tide greatly.
RELATED: Tire issues crop up early at Texas
Keselowski did all he could to hold off Johnson, but the speed of the No. 48 and a potential alignment shift after contact with Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 78 — which the Team Penske driver admitted, “probably didn’t help either of us,” — allowed the six-time champion to take the lead with four laps to go and maintain the position.
Despite the contact, Keselowski had nothing but kind words, post-race, concerning the wheelman of the No. 78.
Heck of a job. Pleasure racing hard with you as well. If @Team_Penske can’t win the championship, I hope you do. https://t.co/tnZHAifcDs
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) November 9, 2015
“The 48 car had mega turn that last run and I couldn’t keep the turn and it kept pushing real bad. I did everything I could to hold him off but he was way faster that last run,” Keselowski said. “Their team did a hell of a job and found speed and my team did a hell of a job, too. We led 300-some laps and these debris yellows always favor someone and it wasn’t our day for them to favor us.
“… We had damn near a flawless day … I’m sure we could have done something different. I don’t know if I could have, but we could have. We’ll have to go to work and try to figure it out.”
Johnson, whose victory gives him a certifiable monopoly on the Texas fall race with four trips to Victory Lane in a row, mentioned that he “just kept trying to put pressure on (Keselowski) hoping for a mistake,” but it was evident that a mistake wasn’t even needed. Keselowski did not err, he just didn’t possess the car necessary on the final run to land in the winner’s circle and lock himself into the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway in two weeks.
As it stands, Keselowski is sixth in points and 19 behind fourth-place Truex. As he noted, a win will likely be needed to advance. If he does, the No. 2 car could be the odds-on favorite.
Homestead and Texas share many similarities and teams will be using the same Goodyear tire run Sunday at the Fort Worth track.
“As strong as we ran today, if we carry that over to Homestead, good Lord, watch out,” he said.
“We know we need to win the next two to win the championship. The good news is we have that opportunity. That’s the way I look at it.”