Is Brad Keselowski back to Championship form?

Keselowski separated himself from a pack of three-win drivers in the regular-season finale, snaring victory No. 4 in dominating fashion. With the amount of sheer speed his No. 2 Ford has shown at the variety of tracks in the 10-race Chase, a second Sprint Cup title in a three-year span is a realistic possibility.

But the Roger Penske-owned operation has produced stellar race cars for both teams that reside at his Mooresville, North Carolina shop. Besides Keselowski’s four wins, teammate Joey Logano has claimed three for the group’s No. 22 Ford, tying him with the powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports trio of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Johnson — all with three regular-season triumphs.

While the stage may seemingly be set for a Hendrick vs. Penske showdown in the postseason, Keselowski isn’t discounting Joe Gibbs Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing and Roush Fenway Racing — all teams that also have multiple drivers in the title-eligible pool, ready to try to find running room and avoid the three eliminations in the new Chase format.

“It’s an interesting layout for the next 10 races,” Keselowski said. “All the teams have different strengths and weaknesses. Over the summer stretch there were certainly some tracks in (the Hendrick) wheelhouse. I think we have a lot of tracks coming up that are in ours over the next few weeks. It’s really hard to say. It seems like everybody seems to find another level when it comes time for the Chase. There could be somebody out there sleeping. I think the Gibbs cars have been performing really well, at least at Atlanta and the weeks prior to that. They could certainly be an issue and a threat as well.

“Over the summer stretch, I thought we were a little bit behind, but boy, did we nail it right here tonight. That’s part of the fun.”

The summer swoon etched in Keselowski’s mind was a seven-race period from late June to early August where the team finished outside the top 10 five times. The other two races, however, were convincing victories at Kentucky and New Hampshire, the latter of which is the second battle in this year’s Chase schedule.

Saturday night’s win, Keselowski’s third in 10 races, continued the season-long trend of speed before and during the race that has become the No. 2 crew’s trademark. Keselowski has started on the front row a sterling 11 times in 26 races this season, including four Coors Light Pole Awards. But count Penske, the Captain himself, among those not scheduling a fitting for championship rings just yet.

“Obviously being the top seed is a tremendous effort for the team and certainly puts us in a great place, but we’re not blind,” said Penske, who tapped Keselowski for a full-time ride with his team starting in 2010. “We know there’s plenty of guys out there that beat us; they’re going to want to. What we have to do is stay on course.”

The path — at least early on — is one that Keselowski has already paved with a degree of success in the past. The 30-year-old driver has won at each of the Chase’s first three tracks (Chicagoland, New Hampshire, Dover), but he isn’t taking advancing from the opening Challenger Round onward as a given.

“I don’t know. Nobody knows,” Keselowski said. “I do know we have different strengths and weaknesses. As to which ones are the strengths you need to have and which ones are the weaknesses you can get away with or vice versa, time will tell.”

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