Brad Keselowski finished ninth at the recent race at Pocono Raceway, a respectable result given the difficulties he faced throughout the season. Despite this, his chances for a victory, and a crucial boost toward the playoffs, were dashed by two significant mistakes. Keselowski lost the lead when he entered pit road during Stage 2 while pit road was officially closed, resulting in a penalty that derailed his momentum.
The race still offered opportunities afterward. In Stage 3, Keselowski gained an advantage by staying out while others pitted, enjoying clear air that allowed him to set fast lap times. However, as his pace diminished, his team urged him to pit, but Keselowski chose to remain on track. The situation worsened when Shane van Gisbergen’s late spin brought out a caution, misaligning Keselowski’s pit cycle and leaving him too far behind in the field to contend for a win.
Insights from NASCAR Analysts on Keselowski’s Mistakes
Jordan Bianchi, a respected NASCAR insider with The Athletic, discussed Keselowski’s missteps during The Teardown podcast. Bianchi was surprised to see a seasoned driver like Keselowski make such avoidable errors, especially the pit road violation. He stressed the simplicity of pit road rules and criticized the miscommunication that led to the penalty.
You’re leading the race, and you pit when pit road is closed? It wasn’t a situation where there was a vehicle on pit road and you thought, ‘OK, they’re gonna clear out.’ It’s like a very straightforward approach here of how to do this, and to mismanage that, to have miscommunication be the reason — you can’t do that. That, to me, is the glaring thing,
Bianchi said.
And then the call of we’re going to stay out again, we’re going to try to play the game and then they got bit by the caution. They didn’t do a very good job of managing this right.
How Keselowski’s Pit Decisions Backfired in the Final Stage
Keselowski, who started the race 32nd in the points standings, needed a win to keep his playoff hopes alive, but the sequence at Pocono dealt a severe blow to that goal. After recovering from the penalty, he encountered a tricky situation involving fuel strategy and clean air on the track. His team advised him to pit as his lap times dropped, yet he preferred to stay out, seeking to maximize the advantage of clear track conditions.
The gamble initially looked promising, but a caution caused by Shane van Gisbergen’s spin changed everything. Jeff Gluck of The Athletic explained the misfortune and timing behind this play. He noted how other drivers like Carson Hocevar and Denny Hamlin feigned pitting to confuse Keselowski and keep him from realizing his mistake.
It was interesting to hear both [Carson] Hocevar and [Denny] Hamlin behind Brad fake coming to pit road because they didn’t want Brad to realize his error and suddenly stay out. They were like, ‘Oh, we’ll come with you.’ … I think the other mistake — it’s tough because was it a mistake? It was really bad timing,
Gluck said.
Suddenly, he goes from traffic and dirty air to he’s got nothing but clean air in front of him. So, he’s like, ‘Sweet.’ He’s ripping laps. But sooner than I expected — it sounded like sooner than Brad expected — they say, ‘Pit this time by.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, can we not go out, maybe stay out one or two [laps] more?’ And they’re like, ‘You’re losing time now to the cars who have come in and got fresh tires.’
So, I think he, on his own, said, ‘I’m going to stay out one more lap here.’ Of all things that happens, SVG spins and causes a caution as he’s gonna come to pit road on the extra lap he stayed out to run. He just wanted that clean air one more lap before he came in. And it bit him, and it ruined his race. He ran up from 24th back to ninth, but [that doesn’t matter].
Consequences of Keselowski’s Errors in a Crucial Race
These mistakes came at a critical time for Keselowski, who remains far outside a secure position in the points standings. With only nine regular-season races left, a victory is the most viable path forward to reach the playoffs for the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion. The mishaps at Pocono have made that path even more challenging.
Jeff Gluck summed up the frustration of Keselowski’s situation, highlighting how the errors impacted the driver’s chances.
It was like every time they put themselves in a position to capitalize, they took a shotgun to their foot and then they gotta play catch-up again. That’s a really hard spot to be in a race where track position is everything. This is a strategy race and you’re doing two things that are inherently going to hurt your track position in a significant way? That’s a deficit that you can’t overcome. For a team that’s in a must-win position, that’s not good.
The race at Pocono Raceway serves as a reminder that in NASCAR, even experienced drivers like Brad Keselowski can face costly setbacks when split-second decisions and team communication falter. Going forward, Keselowski and his team will need to tighten their operations and avoid such critical errors to keep their playoff dreams alive as the season approaches its final and most demanding stretch.