The Final Word – Charlotte was a Happy Place, Though it Made Junior Sad, and Some Mad at Brad
Charlotte in the night and what a web it wove. Essentially, you could sum up the action by first pointing out that Kevin Harvick once again had a dominant car. The difference this time is that he won the darn thing, the Closer closed, and the Happy boy is now locked into the Chase right through to the Arizona 500.
Secondly, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had bad vibrations, bad enough to snap his shifter. It was not as bad as Kansas, but finishing 20th a race after coming home 39th is not what the lad was looking for. For either he or Jimmie Johnson to make the Chase, Kasey Kahne cannot. Harvick and Joey Logano are locked into the next round after Talladega, while the other five contenders are close to it, barring very bad things. Of course, Talladega is where very bad things are known to happen.
Very bad. Some think that describes Brad Keselowski and the boys seemed to be lining up to kick the crap out of him. A come to Jesus meeting seemed to be in order, where one’s feelings were not the only things destined to be hurt. In hearing Brad tell it, all I heard was that everyone else started the problems by attempting to pay him back for things he had already done.
With around 60 laps to go, Brad went either looking for an off ramp or he deliberately swung way wide on a restart to deliberately block Matt Kenseth and force him into scraping the wall. He then did a little tap-tapping on Denny Hamlin in his bid to move forward, causing an anxious moment or two late in the race.
Somewhere in there, or so Keselowski says, Hamlin tried to retaliate, so as the race ended Brad tried to perform a P.I.T. maneuver on Hamlin’s auto. Then, he claimed Kenseth had torn off his right front, which seemed perfectly fine when it hit Matt’s parked car post-race on pit road. At the time, Kenseth had already taken off his restraining devices, making it truly a stupid move. Unfortunately for Bradley Aaron, he also caught Tony Stewart, even though he claimed it must have been Kenseth who hit him. As Brad backed up, Stewart put his own in reverse and made damn sure Keselowski’s front end was indeed torn up, causing the boy to get out of Dodge but quick.
By the time he parked, Hamlin was hunting him down. There was pushing and yelling, but the two never seemed to get together. Brad was directed to his hauler, but hauled himself out to walk off into the night between the trailers. That is where Kenseth caught up to him, and they did get together. Another big crowd gathered, more pushing and yelling ensued, as the post-race action got more exciting than anything we had just seen out on the track.
In the end, Brad gave his side of the story, NASCAR was going to ponder what took place, and no doubt nothing of consequence will come out of it. Do you remember how I recently mentioned that after initially not being much of a fan I was starting to warm toward Keselowski? Not today. The boy seems on the verge of becoming what Kurt Busch had once been, a malady that seems curable only by a treatment made popular by a certain Dr. James (Jimmy) Spencer.
What we learned is that the next time Keselowski causes one of those racing deals, that block will result in him being sent into the wall. The next time he says what happened, I will want to see what really did happen, as ole Brad seems to ignore a few facts in his summation of events. I do not like his chances of advancing to the next round of the Chase, as I think he just lost a few friends from his Facebook list.
Talladega is next, and sometimes things just happen at Talladega.
The eight who rate…
1 – Joey Logano – 1 WIN – 3088 POINTS – Locked in
3 – Kevin Harvick – 1 – 3081 – Locked in
2 – Kyle Busch – 0 – 3082 – 26 Points to the good
4 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 3077 – 21 Points to the good
5 – Carl Edwards – 0 – 3076 – 20 Points to the good
6 – Jeff Gordon – 0 – 3074 – 18 Points to the good
7 – Denny Hamlin – 0 – 3073 – 17 Points to the good
8 – Kasey Kahne – 0 – 3057 – 1 Point to the good
Four who need to do more…
9 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 3056 POINTS – 1 Point out
10 – Brad Keselowski – 0 – 3038 – 19 Points out
11 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 0 – 3031 – 26 Points out
12 – Jimmie Johnson – 0 – 3031 – 26 Points out
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Charlotte
Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
1. Joey Logano: With his spot in the Chase’s next round already locked up, Logano finished fourth at Charlotte, then watched as his Penske teammate went berserk afterwards.
“Sadly,” Logano said, “Kes is going to get stuck with the nickname ‘Spoiled Little Brad.’ Brad’s not one to back down when he thinks he’s been wronged, and if that means crashing his car, he’ll do it. If nothing else, he has ‘scrap mettle.’
“The post-race shenanigans were wild. It looks like my teammate is the bad guy. He really pissed some drivers off. When you say ‘Flair’ in Charlotte, you usually think of ‘Ric,’ not ‘tempers.’”
2. Kevin Harvick: Harvick led 162 laps at Charlotte, and took the field to green on the final restart with two laps remaining. He pulled away from Jeff Gordon and won the Bank Of America 500 and a pass to the third round of the Chase.
“They call me the ‘Closer,’” Harvick said. “They call Gordon the ‘(Can’t Get) Closer.’
“With the win, I moved in to the Chase For The Cup’s round 3. Of course, that took a backseat to some of the post-race events, which looked more like round 1.”
3. Kyle Busch: Busch won the pole at Charlotte and finished fifth in the Bank Of America 500, his second top-five in the last two races. He is second in the points, six out of first.
“I’m in perfect position to advance,” Busch said. “The only thing that can keep me out of the ‘Eliminator’ round is a meltdown on the scale of the one that Brad Keselowski displayed. I’m confident that won’t happen. What worries me is that I know I’m capable of it.”
4. Jeff Gordon: Gordon chased Kevin Harvick to the finish at Charlotte, but didn’t have enough to catch the No. 4. Gordon took second, and needs only a finish of 16th or better at Talladega to advance to the Challenger round.
“What a wild night at Charlotte,” Gordon said. “I think NASCAR needs more races like this. I hear NASCAR is already looking to add a race on a track shaped not like an oval, but an octagon.”
5. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished eighth at Charlotte and now stands fifth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 12 behind Joey Logano.
“I’ve got to hand it to my future teammate Matt Kenseth,” Edwards said. “He really went after Brad Keselowski. From the man who is known for his backflips, that was the best ‘jump’ I’ve seen in awhile.”
6. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished 19th after starting 42nd due to what NASCAR called an “unapproved adjustment.” After the race, Brad Keselowski hit Kenseth’s No. 20 as the cars were heading to the garage.
“First of all,” Kenseth said, “NASCAR’s so-called unapproved adjustment was a decal. When I heard we had to go to the back of the field, I experienced a case of ‘sticker shock.’
“Then, Keselowski started playing bumper cars. I won’t stand for that. I’m not a huge social media user, but I felt the need to post Brad’s new Twitter handle, ‘@hole.’”
7. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson pitted on the final caution with seven laps to go, giving up fourth place in the process. He emerged 10th and dropped back to 17th at the checkered flag.
“Obviously,” Johnson, “that wasn’t the right decision. It appeared to be the first of many judgment errors made by drivers at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“We’ve placed ourselves behind the 8-ball. But we’ll have to scrap for everything at Talladega, and I’m confident we can do it. With the Keselowski-Hamlin-Kenseth dustup in mind, I still have some ‘fight’ left in me.”
8. Kyle Larson: Larson led five laps and looked poised to challenge for the win until he brushed the wall late, throwing off the handling of his No. 42 Target car. He still finished sixth, and has a top-six result in all five Chase races.
“Sure,” Larson said, “the events of Saturday night don’t reflect well on Brad Keselowski. He’s got at least three drivers upset with him. But there’s a positive to everything, and NASCAR drivers are always looking for a new sponsor. The heck with the milk industry, Keselowski should be the poster boy for the new ‘Got Beef?’ ad campaign.”
9. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished ninth in the Bank Of America 500, then tangled with Brad Keselowski on the cool-down lap.
“Ironically,” Hamlin said, “I threw a white towel at Keselowski in anger.
“I’m not afraid to tell it like it is. I’m a straight-shooter. Keselowski needs a straightjacket.”
10. (tie): Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt suffered a broken shifter handle on lap 137, and the ensuing problems cost him dearly at Charlotte. He finished 20th, and now needs a win at Talladega to advance to the next Chase round.
“Hey,” Earnhardt said. “Shift happens.
“But I know what I have to do. It’s all or nothing at Talladega. I need a huge victory in the worst way. So, contrary to what is standard at Talladega, I welcome the ‘Big One’ at Talladega.”
Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 16 in the Bank Of America 500 on a clearly frustrating night in Charlotte. On the cool down lap, Keselowski rammed Denny Hamlin, then hit Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart. In the garage moments later, Kenseth charged Keselowski, sparking a wild melee.
“It looked like everyone wanted a piece of me,” Keselowski said. “What the heck happened? Did NASCAR just announce a new dispute-settlement philosophy, ‘Boys, have at ‘im?’”
