FONTANA, Calif. – In typical Brad Keselowski fashion, he showed up to the pay window when it counted the most.
After triggering the first caution in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 on Lap 4 with a slide through the infield grass, his No. 2 Wurth Ford Fusion sustained damage that many thought would ultimately hinder his performance.
But with aggressive strategies from crew chief Paul Wolfe, solid repair efforts from his crew and a defiant driver behind the wheel, the Rochester Hills, Mich. native whisked his way
through the field and utilized several race cautions to earn his fourth straight top-five run behind winner Kyle Larson.
“We were tore all to hell,” said Keselowski. “Gosh, that’s unfortunate. Got tore up there really early in the race. Went all the way to back, just clawed all the way up to second.
“I don’t know if we had anything for Kyle (Larson) and those guys. Car was tore up pretty bad. To get that kind of finish is respectable. Certainly, we want to win. Felt like we had a shot to do just that. Didn’t come together.”
“That’s the way it goes sometimes when you have a 36 race season. You’re going to have some adversity and days that don’t go your way. That’s the way it was for us today. But we made the most of it, so I’m proud of my guys.”
The tumultuous day for Keselowski started at the drop of the green flag when outside pole sitter Denny Hamlin did not a good start and the No. 2 Wurth Ford received damage from behind from Phoenix winner Ryan Newman.
While Keselowski tried to ride out any potential disaster, his tire eventually gave way, setting the initial tone for the rest of his day.
“I got ran into the back of,” offered Keselowski as he described the accident. “It did a lot of damage to the car. We were in a lot of trouble, starting to free fall through the field. Then I got ran over again
“I’m not really sure who, why, what. I haven’t seen any of that.”
Keselowski described that as the race marched on his Team Penske team continued to hash together a plan that would ultimately put them in a position to get the best finish possible.
“At the end we made a few adjustments and fell back a little bit, put them back at the end, then drove up to where we felt we were capable of, with the top two or three, with those restarts,” noted Keselowski.
“An up and down day, a lot of adversity. We were able to overcome that. I think that’s what great teams do, so I’m proud of that.”
Despite Daytona which he ended on a hook of a tow-truck, 143 laps into the Daytona 500, Keselowski’s is off to a fast start.
With four straight top-five finishes and a eco boost of horsepower from Ford Performance, the team doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.
Keselowski heads to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway next weekend fourth in championship points, but a whopping 64 points behind leader Kyle Larson. The 2012 Cup champion is wineless in 14 prior starts at the 0.526-mile paperclip, but finished second last October.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
