Playing Hurt

Brad Keselowski, whatever you may think of him personally or professionally, is one tough son-of-a-gun.

Walking TO the car with a fractured ankle is tough enough. Winning a 500-mile race at Pocono is incredible.

Yet that’s what the second-generation driver from Michigan accomplished last weekend. Of course, Pocono is no Martinsville, Bristol or Richmond, but still…all you want to do when you have an injury like that is never lose track of the Advil bottle or the TV remote.

Getting back on the horse after crashing head-on into a concrete wall at Road Atlanta, where he was testing for Watkins Glen is impressive too. Brakes failed, and in he went, hard. An evulsion fracture of the left ankle was the result, as well as a completely written-off Blue Deuce.

Just when you think he can’t get any more…whatever he is, he goes and does something like this, which is a big deal as far as Chase scenarios go. He has two victories, is 18th in the points and as of this moment, is 11th in Chase standings. Denny Hamlin is 12th.

Moving on, what about the other dudes involved in the race for the Chase?

A month ago, David Ragan was on top of the world.

He had won a race, was in the top 20 in points and seemed like he had the momentum on his side to make the Chase, if not as a wild-card then as a member of the top 10 in points.

That was a month ago.

On Sunday, Ragan crashed out of the race at Pocono, and in so doing, made his road to the Chase that much bumpier.

After winning at Daytona, he finished eighth at Kentucky, then 14th at New Hampshire. He won the pole for the Brickyard 400, then finished 23rd. On Sunday, he finished 34th.

It’s not just Ragan. Kasey Kahne and several other drivers are in the same boat. They have to win, or finish in the top five or 10, to have a chance. Ragan has one victory, but he’s behind Brickyard winner Paul Menard in the points, so he needs more points or another victory to make it.

As such, that’s a pretty common scenario. In reality, it means the pressure is ratcheted way tight on that group of 10 drivers that aren’t automatically in the Chase as of right now.

That, in a nutshell, is what the drivers not in the top 10 are looking at: gotta hustle, car won’t work the way I need it to…crash.

And so spins the vicious cycle. There’s no other option. You must make things happen on the track or you’re going home, in a sense, while the 12 guys who made the Chase are racing for the big check and the trophy.

In the last 10 races, the tendency among drivers is to not interfere with the Chase racers, lest they unwittingly affect the outcome with a move or two that catches a Chaser unprepared. So, we’re back to having to get what you can get early on a restart and then just battling your car and the track.

Kasey Kahne is another one with similar problems. He’s been wicked-fast at nearly every track, but is the most unlucky driver since Mario Andretti started slowing down at Indy. If it’s not a part breaking, it’s tires. If it’s not tires, it’s a crash. If it’s not a crash, the handling that had been so good early in the race takes a siesta and leaves him with an evil Red Bull Toyota.

He doesn’t have a victory to put up there with Menard and Ragan, and unless he gets one soon, it’s not going to matter.

Ditto Clint Bowyer, Juan Montoya, Pocono polesitter Joey Logano…the list goes on.

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