After playoff exit, Brad Keselowski vows to return stronger and remain hungry for another victory this season

Following his exit from the NASCAR playoffs at Bristol, Brad Keselowski shared a heartfelt post on social media and vowed to return to the sport stronger. The #6 driver suffered elimination after finishing the Bass Pro Shops Night Race in 26th place.

Keselowski qualified for the NASCAR playoffs back in May after winning the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. However, fortune did not favor him for the rest of the season, and he became one of four drivers to exit the playoffs at the end of the Round of 16.

Following his elimination, Keselowski took to Instagram and shared his feelings about his playoff exit. In the post, she shared a series of black-and-white pictures, some from the Bristol Motor Speedway and some with his children. He captioned the post,

"Although I’m disappointed in our championship run, every challenge is an opportunity to come back stronger. Still hungry for another win this season… The journey isn’t over yet. #6NeverQuits."

In addition, the Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing driver also posted a picture with a caption on his Instagram stories, wherein he opened up further on his emotions. He wrote,

"Tough moments fuel great comebacks."

Credit: instagram.com/bradkeselowski

Brad Keselowski won the Cup Series championship in 2012 and was in the hunt for his second title in 2024. However, his championship run was cut short after back-to-back poor results in the three Round of 16 races.

The 40-year-old recorded a victory, eight top 5s, and 12 top 10s this season. His average starting position is 19 and his average finish position is 15.103.

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Brad Keselowski blamed lack of pace for playoff exit

Brad Keselowski (6) during the Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

Brad Keselowski's performances in the last three races in the playoff were far from spectacular as the RFK Racing driver could only manage an average of 23.66 as his finish position.

Following the race at Bristol, Keselowski attributed his playoff exit to the lack of pace of his Ford Mustang Dark Horse. He told Bob Pockrass in the post-race interview (via Fox Sports),

"I mean just didn’t have the pace. Probably set up for the other tire that... wish we had it. [...] We want to run better. We want to win races and we want to go make deep runs in the playoffs and be in the final four and all those things. Obviously, anything short of that is disappointing. We'll come back and charge up more for next year."

At Atlanta, Keselowski finished in 19th place. His Watkins Glen and Bristol races fetched him two 26th-place finishes, and as a result, his hope for a second Cup Series championship vanished.

Keselowski's performances being underwhelming were a theme in qualifying as well. He qualified for Atlanta in 19th place, Watkins Glen in 28th place, and Bristol in 23rd place. In a nutshell, the #6 driver's one-lap pace was certainly not very strong.