NASCAR Preview: Team Penske is a title threat in Chase
By NASCAR Media
Posted 8:00AM on Friday, September 12, 2014
Brad Keselowski celebrates in Victory Lane after winning last week's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway. / Photo: Rainier Ehrhardt/NASCAR via Getty Images
JOLIET, IL - Brad Keselowski has bounced back in a big way this year.<br />
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After failing to defend his 2012 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup title in a disappointing 2013 campaign when he missed the postseason entirely, the Team Penske driver has notched a series-leading four wins to enter this season's Chase as its No. 1 seed.<br />
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Along with his wins come 12 bonus points (three per victory) for the first round of the Chase known as "The Challenger Round" and tons of momentum.<br />
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Keselowski sent the message to the field that he is the driver to beat in the final 10 races by turning in a dominant performance on his way to the checkered flag at Richmond. The 30-year-old set a course record by leading all but 17 of the 400 laps at the .75-mile short track, recording the 400th win for Team Penske.<br />
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"The Miller Lite Ford Fusion was just flying, and I couldn't ask for a better way to enter the Chase than to win and take the first seed," Keselowski said.<br />
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Five of the 10 Chase events take place at 1.5-mile superspeedways, the type of track that has treated Keselowski kindly this season. Two of Keselowski's wins have come on 1.5-mile speedways (Las Vegas and Kentucky). He also won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July, the location of the Chase's second race.<br />
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"We're ready," Keselowski said. "We want to run for another Cup. We feel like this team has it."<br />
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Keselowski is not the only Team Penske driver eyeing a championship. Joey Logano occupies the fifth seed on the Chase Grid. Logano ranks tied for second in the series with three wins and has been a model of consistency the past month. Over the past seven races, Logano has logged six top-10 finishes. He and Keselowski will attempt to bring home the second NASCAR Sprint Cup title for owner Roger Penske.<br />
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"We are ready to go man," said Logano following his sixth-place finish at Richmond. "We had a mediocre night tonight. It was hard fought. We kept fighting with it, but it is over, and now we are going to Chicago and have a shot at a championship this year. I am excited about that."<br />
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<i>WDUN will have live MRN Radio coverage of Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series MyAFibStory.com 400 from Chicagoland Speedway beginning at 1 pm on 102.9 FM.</i><br />
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