“I’m not devastated” - Brad Keselowski optimistic of his playoffs chances despite crashing out of NASCAR Cup race at Talladega

It was not the day that RFK Racing co-owner/driver Brad Keselowski had expected as he ended the race with a disappointing P32 finish on Sunday (October 1) at the Talladega Superspeedway.

Keselowski’s day was going well at one point when he won Stage 2, collecting two valuable points. This later proved to be crucial as he crashed out of the race on 163 of the 188 laps. He aggressively tried to push rookie Carson Hocevar from the third lane, but the latter lost control.

Several other drivers were collected in the wreck, with Brad Keselowski spun towards the inside wall and nearly went airborne before coming to a rest on the track.

With one race left in the Round of 12, the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion found himself at eighth place in the points table and just two points above the elimination line. Despite being involved in a multi-car wreck, Keselowski is not upset with the results.

“It’s not ideal, but I’m not devastated. I’d be devastated if we ran terrible and wrecked, but we ran good and I’m proud of our team for putting the effort we need to run up front and lead laps and win the second stage. It just didn’t come together at the end,” he was quoted as saying by motorsports.com.

Keselowski added:

“It was just one of those Talladega pushing and shoving deals. I just gave a really light push to the 42 car [Hocevar] and it turned around on him, so unfortunate for us. We were able to win the second stage and were in a pretty good position there. It sucks. It sucks for everybody. I hate it for him. I hate it for us, but it is what it is.”

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“I didn’t hit that hard, so I’m fine” – Brad Keselowski

The RFK Racing co-owner/driver said he could not continue after the incident due to the broken toe link of the #17 Ford. Brad Keselowski knows it was an unfortunate end to a promising day but he still is in a good position to advance into the Round of 8.

Keselowski was quoted as saying by NASCAR.com:

“I didn’t hit that hard, so I’m fine. I would’ve been OK, but the toe link was broken, so I wasn’t able to keep moving. Just unfortunate. We got shuffled to the outside line here. The 42 (Hocevar) pulled up in front of me. I’m like, ‘Alright, let’s go. We’re gonna go back up to the front.’ And I just pushed him, and he kind of instantly spun out."

Catch Brad Keselowski in action next weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.