‘Bad’ Brad Keselowski Has Returned

By ryanpritt on October 13, 2014

Really, how out of line do you have to be to get Matt Kenseth fired up? We found out the answer to that question at the end of a wild, yet crucial final few laps at Charlotte on Saturday night.

Brad Keselowski is still an aggressive driver, no doubt, but it seemed that he had matured over the past couple of years. It seemed gone were his reckless early days on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit, highlighted by a feud with Carl Edwards.

But on Saturday night, under the suffocating pressure that the new Chase for the Sprint Cup format has placed on everyone, that Brad Keselowski showed up again. He ran a charging Kenseth into the fence and nearly created a massive pileup as everyone was digging for any position they could find before the checkered flag waved.

Had that been it, Kenseth would have been OK. He said as much after the race. After all, Kenseth is under the same kind of microscope Keselowski and the 10 other drivers still in the Chase are. A little aggression from a driver on the wrong side of the cutoff line could be tolerated and understood, especially from a driver like Kenseth, long known for his laid-back persona.

No, it was after that final flag waved that the true return of “Bad” Brad Keselowski occurred as the No. 2 Penske Ford took a wild swipe at the back end of Denny Hamlin‘s car, then barreled into Kenseth’s on pit road after Kenseth had already (by his account) unstrapped his seat belt and HANS device. That sent Kenseth’s car smashing into Tony Stewart‘s, who if not for heaps of controversy of his own stemming from the on-track death of Kevin Ward in a sprint-car race, probably would’ve reacted much more sternly than just backing into the front of Keselowski’s car.

As it turned out, Stewart didn’t need to retaliate as Kenseth was already on the job, grabbing Keselowski from behind between two haulers, setting off a fracas in a five-foot-wide space for all of America to see. Few could argue with Kenseth’s reasoning or actions.

By the end of the night, both Kenseth and Keselowski were on the wrong side of the cutline with Talladega looming as the last chance for teams to race their way in as the Contender Round becomes the Eliminator Round. Kenseth seems to be in better shape, just one point behind Kasey Kahne while Keselowski sits 19 points back in 10th.

Kenseth has also been one of, if not the best restrictor plate drivers in the business over the past few years. At those tracks where drafting is king, it never hurts to have a friend to give you a push, but at a time when Keselowski will need one more than ever, how many friends will he have left?

Ryan Pritt is a NASCAR writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @RPritt or add him to your network on Google.