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Bob PockrassNASCAR
LAS VEGAS – Paul Wolfe, who is celebrating his third consecutive victory as crew chief for Brad Keselowski, laughed at the question.
"If I told you before Darlington that you would win three races by the end of the year, would you have thought it was likely?"
Wolfe admits that he's not the most optimistic person. Keselowski neither. But even the most optimistic person would not have predicted three consecutive wins for a driver who only got one top 15 in the previous five races.
Keselowski and Wolfe laughed after capturing the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after winning the previous two weeks in Darlington and Indianapolis.
Brad Keselowski managed the final recovery and moved away from the field in the scorching heat of Vegas.
Keselowski was in first place in three reboots loaded with tension to beat Kyle Larson at the finish line in 1: 276 seconds in the final qualifying round.
Kevin Harvick beat Goodyear for his tires after an accident caused an accident that ended his race. With temperatures approaching 100 to Sunday in Las Vegas, the company warned drivers of tire pressure.
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"We were probably not the best today when it comes to the fastest car," said Keselowski after the win. "But my team was the best today when it came to pit stops, which allowed us to control the race and get through the chaos."
Keselowski's third consecutive victory came on a track not necessarily known for chaos. Yes, he had his moments (we think of Kyle Busch-Joey Logano's fight), but he tends to allow a pilot to leave the field on a 1.5-mile track.
Again, LVMS has never hosted a playoff race. As part of a realignment and $ 2.5 million check from the Vegas Visitor Authority, LVMS now has two races.
The traditional NASCAR weekend came in March. Now there is one more in September, and a 100-degree day, combined with the pressure of having to play in the playoffs, was probably one of the most unpredictable events – and that goes well with beyond Keselowski's victory.
"I'm sure 100 degrees plays a role in that [craziness]"Keselowski said." It's so hot that the cars were blowing tires and things were happening that probably would not have happened if it was colder. "
While the playoffs took the top seven positions of the final round, many playoff drivers found themselves in the back half of the 40-car pack in a race featuring 12 warnings including 28 yellow rounds and a red flag 10 minutes. on the last 69 circuits.
Kevin Harvick and Erik Jones were 39th and 40th after a Harvick blown tire. Chase Elliott finished 36th after an accident where he was collected by Jamie McMurray. Denny Hamlin spun in turn trying to spend too much time on a mishandled race car to finish 32nd. End-of-race problems prevented Alex Bowman (19th), Kurt Busch (21st), Jimmie Johnson (22nd) and Clint Bowyer (23rd) from achieving solid performances.
Even those who have finished well have not avoided chaos. Kyle Busch is slender and finished seventh.
"We fought for four or five weeks in a row," Busch said. "There is just something wrong, I do not know what it is, there is just a bad aura right now.
"We have to change that, change that, clean it up, it's not the time of year to have that stuff."
Given all the chaos, it was difficult for Martin Truex Jr. felt frustrated finishing third, although "for most of the day, it was clear who had the dominant car".
"This place is really fast, but when it gets tough, it's really hard to drive," Truex said. "These things are a handful when you're back in traffic, it was a tough day.
"Obviously, some guys had very difficult days, so it was a good day to be just solid."
If this is an indication of what will be the playoffs, expect more victories from Keselowski and drivers who have had solid regular seasons all of a sudden seeing their seasons on the edge.
"I tried to think of the playoffs as a week at a time, and I tried not to go too far [on what will happen]"Keselowski said when asked to make a prediction." I think I made that mistake in the past. "
Keselowski, thanks to his victory, is the only driver among the 16 in the championship race. The 11 remaining spots will go to a driver who wins the course of Richmond or Charlotte with the remainder fixed by points. Johnson, Elliott, Jones and Hamlin are all out of the chaos.
Logano is in good shape after his fourth place, but he wanted the auto auction to be so bad that he and his team-mate Team Penske Keselowski hit the doors after the next restart.
"He was turning his tires and the 78 [of Truex] I had a good race behind me and I knew I had to make a move one way or the other because the 78 was going to win me, "Logano said.
"I was able to go outside and we bumped along the back rope."
They stayed upright. This seems to be the case for Keselowski in the last three weeks.
Keselowski takes his unpredictable trophies and knows that's the race. Wolfe too, even though he can almost laugh at how the last three races went perfectly for him and Keselowski to be in the end to enjoy a crew that reached its peak at the right time.
"When we are put in a position to have an opportunity, we seem to be able to handle the pressure, and [Keselowski] does a good job with that, "said Wolfe.
"I think he's been showing these last three weeks with what he's been able to do when there's so much at stake. It's really amazing."
The success of Keselowski seems to even leave his teammate Logano shot.
"You get momentum and confidence from yourself and you can do things that you do not think you can do," Logano said.
"The 78 [of Truex] was probably the fastest, but he took off slowly for three laps, which prevented him from really winning the race. When he goes green, he will leave. "
Truex did not mince words analyzing the arrival and wondering what would have happened if he had a car to enjoy shorter distances. The longest green flag race in the last 48 laps was only 11 laps.
"Brad has clearly found a horseshoe," said Truex. "Three races in a row, he won and he did not have the best car.If you really want to talk about this sport, you have to watch it.
"It is obvious that he did not have the most laps in any of those races and he showed up at the end with good pit stops and good speed in the short term."
Keselowski heard these comments and had no argument. He believes Kyle Larson was the best at Darlington while he just had a car that was at best a third-place car. At Indy, he believes that he owned a 15th-rank car but worked well on the strategy.
"[Truex] is on the right track, "said Keselowski. We have not been the best car in the last three weeks. … I have the impression of having stolen the last three races.
"We are not complaining, but we still have a lot of work to do to win the game without these problems."
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