Imagine you’re behind the wheel of a race car, headed toward the start/finish line for a green, white, checkered restart, and your entire season rests on the outcome of the final two laps.
Finish high enough and you stay in contention for the championship.
Give up too many positions and everything you and your team have worked for all season effectively comes to an end.
And then you realize you have a tire going down.
Or a loose wheel.
Or an engine that’s gone sour.
Do you pull out of line and let everyone, and everything, go rushing past?
Or do you stay in line and hope for the best?
Kevin Harvick chose the latter, and when his underpowered Chevrolet triggered a multicar crash Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, the final race of Contender Round of this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup ended under a cloud of controversy.
Did Harvick intentionally cause the crash in an attempt to maintain his position and thus escape elimination?
NASCAR officials said Tuesday that they could find no evidence to support such claims.
Several drivers, including two that saw their title hopes dashed, believed otherwise.
Harvick’s actions make for great debate. They also raise another question — what is considered acceptable racing under today’s Chase format?
Even the drivers are still trying to figure that one out. And doing so on the fly.
“When the competition is at the level that it’s at, and you’re seeing that opportunity either slip away or in your grasp, the things that you will go to, the level that you’ll take it, you don’t even know yourself until you’re in that position,” four-time series champion Jeff Gordon said Tuesday during media day activities at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
What’s at stake hasn’t changed, he said, only the format. “And that’s changed things slightly in the urgency of things.
“It’s just the opportunity that presents itself that’s there in front of you. I don’t think that would be any different 20 years ago versus today.”
Matt Kenseth, a former champion and one of the four latest Chase casualties, said after Sunday’s race that NASCAR officials had “lost total control.”
“I got wrecked out two weeks in a row from people doing what they had to do to make the Chase, but call it what you want,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said.
A week earlier, contact from Joey Logano knocked Kenseth out of the lead in the closing laps at Kansas Speedway. Sunday’s finish was the final nail in the coffin.
Perhaps less control is by design. “That’s part of the fun of it, but it does need some control,” Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski said. “As to whether it’s the appropriate amount that we’ve seen lately, who am I to judge?
“When you get to these elimination races you’ve got essentially your whole season on the line. It certainly is going to stretch what you’re willing to do, but that’s not a bad thing, that’s a good thing. That’s what NASCAR wants. That’s why they created this format.”
The format, which debuted in 2004, was last revised after 2013 in an attempt to create more “Game 7” type opportunities, with the stakes increasing as each round nears completion.
That much appears to have been accomplished.
But to what extremes drivers and teams will go to advance, and equally important, how such moves are policed, remains open for discussion.
How much is too much? How far is too far?
“I think everybody’s going to keep ramping it up, racing more aggressively, racing harder, take more chances,” Furniture Row Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. said. “But you don’t want to go overboard and just run people over and take people out of the race. That’s not fair.
“Everybody has the same opportunity. Everybody has the same right to be on that race track.”
Justin Allgaier will drive the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro in 2016 in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, JR Motorsports announced Wednesday. The team will also enter into a multiyear partnership with BRANDT.
Allgaier currently sits in the No. 51 Chevrolet SS for HScott Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series and hasn’t driven in the XFINITY Series since 2013. In 174 career XFINITY Series starts, Allgaier has three wins, 84 top 10s and four poles.
“JR Motorsports is privileged to bring BRANDT and Justin back into the XFINITY Series,” said Kelley Earnhardt Miller, general manager of JRM, in a team press release. “Much like JRM, BRANDT is also a family business that prides itself on being an industry leader. We’re excited to give both BRANDT and Justin a renewed avenue for success and look forward to what lies ahead in 2016 and beyond.”
Allgaier will replace Regan Smith, who has piloted the No. 7 full-time for the past three seasons and finished second in the XFINITY Series standings in 2014.
Allgaier will join a JRM team that also includes Elliott Sadler, who is taking over for Sprint Cup-bound Chase Elliott.
JRM will also field a third full-time XFIINITY car, the No. 88, that will be driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Elliott, among others.
Tickets for the 2016 Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola
On Sale Thursday, Oct. 29
~ Independence Day Holiday Weekend Classic To Be Held In New Motorsports Stadium For The First Time ~
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Tickets for the 58th annual Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, the first following the completion of the $400 million DAYTONA Rising redevelopment project, will officially go on sale Thursday, Oct. 29 at 9 a.m. EDT.
Fans will be able to purchase tickets to the Independence Day holiday weekend classic scheduled for Saturday, July 2 in one of three convenient ways:
• Online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com
• By calling 1-800-PITSHOP
• Visiting the Daytona International Speedway Ticket and Tours Building
The new motorsports stadium will feature 101,500 new, wider more comfortable seats, thousands of premium club seats, 40 escalators and 17 elevators, 60 luxury suites, social “neighborhoods” and three concourse levels that will span the nearly mile-long frontstretch.
Reserved stadium seats for the Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola start at $55. Reserved stadium seats for children ages 12 and under are $20 and kids 12 and under are free in the Sprint FANZONE.
The Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola will feature 43 stars of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series battling for a coveted victory in the 160-lap, 400-mile race, which will be capped off by the largest fireworks show in the Southeast.
About DAYTONA Rising
DAYTONA Rising is a $400 million reimagining of an American icon – Daytona International Speedway. Five expanded and redesigned entrances, or “injectors,” will lead fans to a series of escalators and elevators, transporting them to three different concourse levels. Each level features spacious social areas, or “neighborhoods,” along the nearly mile-long frontstretch. At the conclusion of the redevelopment, Daytona International Speedway will have approximately 101,500 permanent, wider and more comfortable seats, twice as many restrooms and three times as many concession stands. In addition, the Speedway will feature over 60 luxury suites with trackside views and a completely revamped hospitality experience for corporate guests. DAYTONA Rising: Reimagining an American Icon, expected to create 6,300 jobs, $300 million in labor income and over $85 million in tax revenue, will be completed in time for the 2016 Rolex 24 At Daytona and DAYTONA 500.
Toyota, Florida Hospital, Chevrolet and Sunoco are Founding Partners of DAYTONA Rising, joining the Speedway to help provide the very best experience for fans through more than 80,000 total square feet of engagement areas, branding rights for four of the injectors/entrances and four of the new neighborhoods.
Barton Malow is serving as the design-builder for the project. In addition to DAYTONA Rising, Barton Malow has renovated the University of Michigan “Big House” and the Rose Bowl.
ROSSETTI is the architect for DAYTONA Rising. ROSSETTI is an award-winning architectural design and planning firm with 46 years of expertise in sports and entertainment projects including the Green Bay Packers Titletown, renovations for the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field, a new headquarters for the LA Lakers, five MLS stadiums and the new retractable roof over the USTA’s Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Race fans can follow the progress of the DAYTONA Rising project by visiting www.DAYTONARising.com and connecting with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube. Also, fans can see the construction project up close by taking one of the daily tours available at the Speedway on non-event days throughout the year. Visit www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/tours or the Speedway Ticket and Tours Building for more information. For tickets and more information on Daytona International Speedway events, visit www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or call 1-800-PITSHOP.
About Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway is the home of “The Great American Race” – the DAYTONA 500. Though the season-opening NASCAR Sprint Cup event garners most of the attention – as well as the largest audience in motorsports – the approximately 500-acre motorsports complex boasts the most diverse schedule of racing on the globe, thus earning it the title of “World Center of Racing.” In addition to eight major weekends of racing activity, rarely a week goes by that the Speedway grounds are not used for events that include civic and social gatherings, car shows, photo shoots, production vehicle testing and police motorcycle training.
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Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Toby Keith, Kid Rock, Hank Williams, Jr., Billy Currington, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Lee Brice, Martina McBride, Gary Allan, Tyler Farr and Many More at
First-Ever Dega Jam Music Festival at Talladega Superspeedway,
July 1-3, 2016
Tickets, VIP Packages and Travel Packages on Sale Now
Early-Bird Pricing for 3-Day Passes Available for a Limited Time
(Talladega, Ala.) – October 25, 2015 – Dega Jam, the first-ever country music festival held at Talladega Superspeedway, announced a monster lineup for the first-time event. Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Toby Keith, Kid Rock, Hank Williams, Jr., Billy Currington, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Lee Brice, Martina McBride, Gary Allan, Kip Moore, Tyler Farr and dozens more will keep the party rocking over Fourth of July weekend, July 1, 2 & 3, 2016 at the famed Talladega Superspeedway.
Dega Jam, which will take place in the infield of the biggest NASCAR track in the country, will feature a huge music lineup over three days and nights, programmed on three specially designed performance stages. The mega-music festival will offer fans a thrilling new annual way to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday weekend. General Admission 3-day passes, VIP packages and travel packages are all on sale now. Early-bird pricing for weekend passes is available for a limited time. Camping opportunities will be available for purchase starting October 29. Visit DegaJam.com for all festival information, including participating hotels.
The full 2016 Dega Jam lineup includes: Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Toby Keith, Kid Rock, Hank Williams, Jr., Billy Currington, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Lee Brice, Martina McBride, Gary Allan, Kip Moore, Tyler Farr, Chase Rice, Chris Janson, Dwight Yoakam, Frankie Ballard, Jamey Johnson, Easton Corbin, Jerrod Niemann, Sara Evans, The Time Jumpers featuring Vince Gill, Kenny Sears, and Ranger Doug Green, Montgomery Gentry, Marty Stuart, Eli Young Band, Colt Ford, Brothers Osborne, Brandy Clark, Clare Dunn, John Anderson, Kristian Bush, The Cadillac Three, Aaron Lewis, Pat Green, Josh Thompson, RaeLynn, Mac Powell, Rodney Atkins, Cassadee Pope, Shooter Jennings The Swon Brothers, Mo Pitney, Frank Foster, Whiskey Myers, and Ruthie Collins.
Quint Davis, producer/director said, “Dega Jam is coming to join the thunder that rocks Talladega Superspeedway. From the opening night strains of ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd to Eric Church and his mega-hit ‘Talladega’ on Saturday night, to taking it home with Kid Rock’s ‘Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long,’ the Dega Jam will live up to its namesake. A country festival like no other, Dega Jam headlines Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Toby Keith, Kid Rock, Hank Williams, Jr., and 40 more stars from all branches of country music. In the infield of the Superspeedway, on three stages for three days, country music will be celebrated from modern superstar Martina McBride, to legendary rocker Dwight Yoakam, and everything in between, including Lee Brice, Billy Currington, Gary Allan, Montgomery Gentry, Tyler Farr, native Alabamians Sara Evans and Jamey Johnson. Even Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill brings his Time Jumpers to the party. And a party it will be; for sure there is something for everyone. All tickets go on sale today. Be one of the lucky few that get to actually camp out in the infield, inside the Festival itself, where the party really never stops. Hey, it’s not just a music Festival, it’s Talladega!”
“Being the biggest race track in NASCAR and having nearly 3,000 acres of unlimited camping opportunities, Dega Jam is uniquely positioned to become one of the – if not the – biggest country music festival in the country,” said Grant Lynch, Chairman of Talladega Superspeedway. “More than 70 percent of our NASCAR customers come from outside of the state, generating more than $380 million annually for Alabama tourism, and we expect Dega Jam to add significantly to this economic impact. When these fans make their journey to Dega Jam, they will find that ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ has lots more to offer, too. From delicious food delicacies to incredible road-trip destinations, Alabama has it all. We can’t wait for July 2016.”
Just as it is for the races at Talladega, Dega Jam will allow fans to camp in the infield, literally inside the festival. A full-range of camping opportunities is available for virtually any budget, from pitching a tent to deluxe RV locations adjacent to the stages.
Special VIP packages – the “Crew Chief VIP Experience” and “VIP Pit Pass” – will allow for a variety of special privileges, depending upon which package is selected: an exclusive upfront, golden-circle viewing area at the main stage and with VIP viewing at the other stages; access to the White Lightning VIP Club offering a comfortable hospitality tent and private cash bar; and other comforts and amenities. VIP packages will be available in limited quantities.
Fans at the festival will also have the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of their favorite country stars at artist meet-and-greets located throughout pit road and inside NASCAR garages. Numerous other features—a select festival menu sold from food booths and food trucks; carnival rides; arcade games; country-and-western merchandise; cool zone water elements; and more—will all be a part of the festival, as Dega Jam transforms Talladega Superspeedway into a festival-goer’s paradise.
Be part of the Dega Jam community at any of the following:
AEG Live along with Festival Productions, Inc. – New Orleans are partnering with the International Speedway Corporation (ISC) to produce the Dega Jam.
PLEASE NOTE: Artist b-roll video is available at https://vimeo.com/141839637.
Festival Contact: Matthew Goldman, 504-410-4100, [email protected]
Talladega Contact: Russell Branham, 256-315-4556, [email protected]
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DEGA JAM
WEEKEND FESTIVAL PASSES
3-DAY GENERAL ADMISSION WEEKEND PASS – ($179 early bird all-in pricing)
• 3-day general admission; passes are non-transferable
• Includes access to over 40 bands on three festival stages, a select menu of food and beverage offerings available for purchase from food booths and food trucks, carnival rides, arcade games, country and western merchandise, official festival merchandise, a myriad of shade and water elements and much more
VIP PIT PASS – ($599 all-in pricing)
• 3-day admission; passes are non-transferable
• Access to the Pit, an exclusive upfront, golden circle viewing area at the Dega Jam Stage and VIP viewing at the Sweet Home Dega Stage and Honky Tonk Hall
• Access to the White Lightning VIP Club, a private hospitality tent where guests can cool of in the shade with access to exclusive beverage for purchase, private merchandise stand, cell phone charging stations and more
• Private air-conditioned flushable restrooms
• Exclusive festival merchandise item
• Express VIP entrance with re-entry all weekend
• Exclusive opportunity to purchase a VIP parking space
• On-site experience concierge
CREW CHIEF VIP EXPERIENCE – ($999 all-in pricing)
• 3-day admission; non-transferable
• Access to the Pit, an exclusive upfront, golden circle viewing area at the Dega Jam Stage and VIP viewing at the Sweet Home Dega Stage and Honky Tonk Hall
• Exclusive access to the Crew Chief Super VIP Deck at the Dega Jam Stage featuring a covered viewing platform with premium views of the main stage, open bar featuring select wine, beer and spirits, complimentary light snacks and refreshments, and air-conditioned restrooms
• Crew Chief VIP-only exclusive festival merchandise items
• Access to the White Lightning VIP Club, a private hospitality tent where guests can cool of in the shade with access to exclusive beverage for purchase, private merchandise stand, cell phone charging stations and more
• Crew Chief VIP only festival merchandise item
• Express VIP entrance with re-entry all weekend
• Exclusive opportunity to purchase a VIP parking space
• On-site experience concierge
Plus a few surprises!
RELATED: Full Talladega results | Updated Chase Grid
NASCAR’s decision to truncate its overtime process for last weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway reduced the number of green-white-checkered attempts from its customary three to one. Thanks to a perfect storm of factors in the waning laps, it did not decrease the carnage or the confusion.
The remaining eight drivers alive in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs did their best to sort it out Tuesday, examining the rare and peculiar aborted non-attempt and the actual final restart attempt — both of which resulted in multicar crashes before the field ever reached the flagstand. The spectacle even left NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France to call the ending “strange” in a Tuesday afternoon appearance on NBCSN’s “NASCAR America.”
The double-whammy of race-ending anticlimax raised the question — if NASCAR’s big-leaguers can take the initial start without issue, then make mid-race restarts with relative ease, why don’t late-race restarts go off without a hitch?
“Because we’re idiots, every one of us,” Harvick said Tuesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. “We’re pushing and shoving. You’re pushing past the limits. You’re pushing past everything you’re supposed to do. You know it’s wrong.”
Granted, it’s a small sample size — one procedural rules change for one race — with the noble intention of improving safety at Talladega, where restrictor-plate engine rules slow the field at one of the circuit’s fastest tracks. The change came about at least partly in response to Austin Dillon‘s frightening crash at sister track Daytona International Speedway in an overtime finish in July.
Though Sunday’s ending quashed the hopes of a two-lap dash under the green flag, the decision for one green-white-checkered attempt still found favor among the remaining eight Chasers.
“Just from the driver standpoint, I think it’s too much risk that’s involved to do multiple green-white-checkereds,” said four-time series champion Jeff Gordon. “Each time you have a green-white-checkered, there’s so much aggression that goes on on those restarts. You’re putting everyone in a position to not lift, to not hold back, to do things outside their comfort zone. That’s what’s going to cause some big wrecks. I think doing it one time is enough.”
Before the rules change ever went into effect, 2012 series champion Brad Keselowski was among the proponents of shortening overtime at Talladega, saying he’d be content with just one green-white-checkered attempt. The outcome of Sunday’s race didn’t sway his opinion.
“NFL and some other sports have an overtime, but that’s only if the score is tied. I don’t consider a yellow flag in the closing stages of the race to be a tie,” Keselowski said. “I consider it to be a stoppage of play. In that sense, when the cars go the scheduled race distance, to me, the race is over. Yeah, does it stink when it happens under yellow? Absolutely, but those things happen and that’s why you’ve got to make a pass before you run out of time.”
NASCAR competition officials have a little less than four months to determine whether similar overtime restrictions will be in place for the 2016 season-opening Daytona 500. Even less clear was whether the decision-making process that led to Sunday’s waved-off restart would eventually become an ironclad part of race procedure.
The one constant — no matter how many overtime attempts — remains the ratcheted pressure of the Chase, especially during restarts with the laps ticking down.
“It’s the end of the race. Look at how important every point is,” Harvick said. “In those situations you have to be overly aggressive. You have to go over the edge.”
· The No. 33 team has been penalized for an infraction that occurred during pre-qualifying inspection on Oct. 23. This is a P4 level penalty (Sections 20.4.12.2; 20.20.a; 20.4.f; P4, 12.5.3.4. b&d, Penalty Options; P4, 12.5.3.4.1 d&f, Penalty Examples). Crew chief Shane Huffman has been fined $10,000, suspended for the next three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship events, plus any non-championship races or special events which might occur during that period, and placed on NASCAR probation for a six-month period following the issuance of the penalty. The team has also been assessed with the loss of 25 championship driver (Brandon Jones) and 25 championship owner (Maurice Gallagher Jr.) points.
RELATED: Dale Jr. ‘Twitter burns’ Logano
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Joey Logano laughs it off, and that’s easy to do when you’ve just swept an entire round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Logano, driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, hasn’t lost a Sprint Cup Series race since last month when he finished 10th at Dover International Speedway. He followed that with a win at Charlotte. He won the following week at Kansas. And not only did he win at Talladega, but he also beat favored son Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the process.
Fans of the No. 88 were not pleased.
“I’ve gotten hate mail,” Logano said Tuesday during media-day activities at the NASCAR Hall of Fame for the eight drivers advancing to the Eliminator Round. “Believe me, I got that part.
“I don’t know why. It’s OK. I somewhat enjoy it and I somewhat take it as a compliment because if you look at it, when I was getting beer cans thrown at me (after the Talladega win) … I was sitting there driving and thinking about it. I was like, ‘Man, this is actually really cool.’ “
“I get a kick out of it. If I post a picture on Instagram and then all the comments come up on my phone after I post something, the same thing on Twitter, but when the comments come up and it’s like, ‘You’re a jerk.’ And there are a lot of things I can’t say right now, but I smile every time because I think it’s kind of funny because some of them are pretty creative. I’m like, ‘You put a lot of thought into that one. That’s a new one.’ I like the new ones. Those are good.”
A quick scan of Logano’s Instagram account confirms as much.
“I hate u.”
“You got lucky dale would of had it.”
“Is that before or after my beer can hit your car?”
“Too bad he didn’t earn it if you actually watch it then jr was ahead at the time when they pulled the caution but go ahead and celebrate a (expletive) win because jr will always be a better racer than you will ever be”
“You suck @joeylogano. First you spinout kenseth when you already had a win and now you got lucky beating Jr. You got nothing from these wins. You should’ve just let Jr win.”
Logano might spend time perusing the comments, but he said he doesn’t worry about why people like him or why they don’t. Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon had his share of detractors when he began beating NASCAR’s established stars. Go back another generation and Darrell Waltrip did as well. It’s common throughout the history of the sport as new stars begin to rise and icons begin to falter. And Logano is clearly on the rise. Sunday’s victory at Talladega was his sixth of the season, tops for the series with four races remaining.
“I know there are a lot of 22 T-shirts out there and I really enjoy seeing that and I really appreciate the support that the 22 team gets, and if you don’t like me, I don’t care,” he said.
“What I do like about our sport is our fans are passionate about their driver. They pick their team. They pick their driver and they say, ‘This is my guy and he’s right no matter what and everyone else is wrong no matter what,’ and that’s cool.”
Logano will be going after a fourth consecutive win this weekend when the Eliminator Round gets underway Sunday with the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway (1:15 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).
There’s been no time, he said, to enjoy what his team has already accomplished in this year’s Chase.
“You win these races and you want to enjoy it and take it all in and have a great time, but you can’t help but still look out the windshield and say, ‘This is just a stepping stone to winning the championship,’ ” he said. “That’s all that race is — just another step to getting to the final goal and maybe at the end of the season we can take a step back and say, ‘Man, winning the amount of races we did, the amount of top-fives, and the speed we had, that’s something to be proud of.’
“But right now at this point, we can’t stop. We’ve got to keep looking forward because we have not reached our goal yet.”
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team owner Brad Keselowski announced Tuesday that Austin Cindric will drive the team’s No. 29 Cooper Standard-sponsored Ford in this weekend’s Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway.
“Obviously we want to see Austin Theriault back in the truck as soon as possible,” Keselowski said. … “We’ve had an opportunity to shuffle the deck, not the way we wanted it to come. … That truck is the truck that won in the spring so it’s a tremendous opportunity for Austin.”
Cindric, 17, will be making his NASCAR debut. The Columbus, Ohio native has two career ARCA starts.
“I’ve never been to Martinsville so it’ll be a whole new experience,” Cindric said in a release provided by the team. “I’ll just take it lap by lap and absorb as much information as possible. I just need to make sure I gain the respect of the competitors because I’m new to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. I have no expectations. I’ll just take what the weekend brings me and go from there.”
The move became necessary after Austin Theriault, who had made eight starts in the entry, was injured in a crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this month.
Brian Keselowski, brother of the team owner, handled the driving duties last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, leading 10 laps before finishing 17th.
Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano and Alex Tagliani have also made starts in the No. 29 this season. The organization also fields the No. 19 Ford for driver Tyler Reddick, who enters this weekend’s race second in points.
RELATED: Full race results from Talladega
Brian Keselowski was all smiles on pit road after finishing 17th in the Camping World Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, as he debriefed with his team and chatted with those surrounding him.
But under the smile lay a level of disappointment — his chance at his first NASCAR major series victory in his first Truck start had faded away like his diminishing fuel cell, the culprit of Keselowski’s demise in the final laps of the fred’s 250 presented by Coca-Cola.
“I’m emotional. I’m really proud of how we ran,” Keselowski said on pit road after the race. “I’m disappointed that it was probably my only chance. We’ll see how it works out.”
Keselowski — who is a crew chief for ARCA driver Matt Kurzejewski and part-time driver in the series — seemed poised for victory, as he was lined up to restart fourth for a green-white-checkered attempt in a Ford owned by his brother Brad Keselowski. His performance throughout the day had shown brighter than his lack of experience behind the wheel of a truck, as he had battled back to the front after getting slapped with a pit road speeding penalty early, and even led 10 laps around the 2.66-mile track.
“We worked our way through the pack really quick and I was like, ‘Wow, that’s good,’ ” Keselowski said. “… All of a sudden we’re out in front of a pack and everybody is starting to pit and we’re weaving our way through traffic and the 4 (of Erik Jones) is with me and I’m like, ‘We might be leading this thing.’ ”
But determination can take a driver only so far. Prior to the restart, Keselowski made the disappointing trudge down pit road, his No. 29 truck fuel cell as dry as the Alabama asphalt.
It was a moment that was heart sinking for Brad Keselowski Racing team owner and younger brother Brad Keselowski, who had given Brian the opportunity to pilot the No. 29 for injured Austin Theriault.
“I really thought he was going to win it,” Brad Keselowski said, tilting his head back in dismay in the Talladega garage after Saturday’s Sprint Cup Series qualifying session.
“… He did great, he really did. I was really happy to see him run up front, disappointed he didn’t finish off, but he did everything I could ever ask him to and more.”
Brad Keselowski‘s girlfriend Paige White tweeted at Brian after the race, saying that their motorcoach needed a new floor due to Brad’s pacing during the Truck race. “You made him proud!” she said.
Despite the finish that was marred with disappointment, Brian Keselowski‘s strong showing at the superspeedway gave the 34-year-old driver one crucial element: confidence.
“It kind of validated what I always thought — that I could do it, I just never had a chance.” Keselowski said.
And win or not, its certainly a performance Keselowski hoped others were watching.
“We had a really good truck,” Keselowski said. “I hope I showed somebody I could do it.”