MOTOR RACING

NASCAR playoffs: 'Big 3' welcome Brad Keselowski into club

Godwin Kelly
godwin.kelly@news-jrnl.com
Team Penske drivers Joey Logano, left, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski celebrate the organization's 500th racing victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. All three drivers are in the NASCAR playoffs. [NASCAR GETTY IMAGES/MATT SULLIVAN]

It is official — well at least for this week — NASCAR’s “Big 3” has morphed into the “Big 4” because Brad Keselowski has emerged from the shadows for three consecutive victories.

With his victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Keselowski has taken a step up to the NASCAR elite joining Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick.

Race 2 of the playoffs is at Richmond International Raceway, where many of these drivers have enjoyed success.

READ MORE: Steve Phelps named NASCAR president

Some of racing’s biggest names are just hanging by a frayed thread. It’s time to press the panic button. This is the way the knockout playoff format is designed.

Welcome, Brad

Martin Truex Jr.

LEADER: 2,087 points

LAST FIVE RACES: 14th, 30th, 11th, 40th, 3rd

CAREER AT RICHMOND: 25 starts, 0 wins, 2 top-five, 19.8 average finish

BUZZ: Truex had a horrible string of finishes going into the playoffs but emerged from Race 1 with a top-5. Truex says he is in it to win it and now has shown the performance to back up those words.

Kyle Busch

POINTS BACK: 2

LAST FIVE RACES: 3rd, 20th, 7th, 8th, 7th

CAREER AT RICHMOND: 26 starts, 5 wins, 16 top-five, 7.2 average finish

BUZZ: Busch probably had Richmond circled on his calendar because it is one of his playgrounds. Busch has an outrageous percentage of top-5 finishes (61 percent) in his career starts. Just what the doctor ordered

Brad Keselowski

POINTS BACK: 18

LAST FIVE RACES: 2nd, 16th, 1st, 1st, 1st

CAREER AT RICHMOND: 18 starts, 1 win, 4 top-five, 13.7 average finish

BUZZ: “Kez” stormed into the playoffs with two wins and extended his winning streak to three at Las Vegas. He has turned the “Big 3” narrative into the “Big 4” thanks to his late-season exploits.

Kevin Harvick

POINTS BACK: 27

LAST FIVE RACES: 1st, 10th, 4th, 4th, 39th

CAREER AT RICHMOND: 35 starts, 3 wins, 13 top-five, 10.3 average finish

BUZZ: After ranting about the quality of tire Goodyear handed out at Las Vegas, only a victory at Richmond will soothe the savage beast. Harvick drives harder when he is angry. Hope those tires hold up.

The right direction

Joey Logano

POINTS BACK: 31

LAST FIVE RACES: 10th, 4th, 2nd, 13th, 4th

CAREER AT RICHMOND: 19 starts, 2 wins, 8 top-five, 11.5 average finish

BUZZ: Keep an eye on Logano. Keselowski, his teammate at Team Penske, is grabbing headlines, but Logano has quietly posted three top-5 finishes in his last four starts. He is flying under the radar.

Kurt Busch

POINTS BACK: 41

LAST FIVE RACES: 6th, 1st, 6th, 6th , 21st

CAREER AT RICHMOND: 35 starts, 2 wins, 7 top-five, 15.3 average finish

BUZZ: Busch was battling for a possible top-5 finish at Vegas when he got swallowed up in multi-car wreck on Lap 266 (of 272). He limped home 21st, but finished higher than six other playoff drivers.

Ryan Blaney

POINTS BACK: 45

LAST FIVE RACES: 5th, 7th, 15th, 11th , 5th

CAREER AT RICHMOND: 5 starts, 0 wins, 0 top-five, 28.6 average finish

BUZZ: Blaney may be in the lead of this group, but he needs to start posting some top-5 finishes really fast in order to stay in the game. This team needs to step up its game if it wants to advance.

Kyle Larson

POINTS BACK: 46

LAST FIVE RACES: 17th, 2nd, 3rd, 14th , 2nd

CAREER AT RICHMOND: 9 starts, 1 win, 2 top-five, 10.0 average finish

BUZZ: Larson scored his sixth, second-place finish of the season at Vegas. Good for points, but he extended his losing streak to 37 races going back to 2017. Watch out if the No. 42 Chevy starts winning.

Points sandwich

Aric Almirola

POINTS BACK: 53

LAST FIVE RACES: 7th, 31th, 14th, 23rd , 6th

CAREER AT RICHMOND: 13 starts, 0 wins, 1 top-five, 16.3 average finish

BUZZ: Almirola and the next three drivers are in no man’s land here. They can race for points to advance to the Round of 12 or stretch their necks and go for a win. They do have the points-racing option.

Austin Dillon

POINTS BACK: 56

LAST FIVE RACES: 4th, 13th, 16th, 22nd , 11th

CAREER AT RICHMOND: 9 starts, 0 wins, 0 top-five, 21.1 average finish

BUZZ: Dillon is not going to stack wins like Keselowski, so the guess here is the Daytona 500 champion won’t take any big swings at a playoff victory. It looks like he is playing the survivor game here.

Clint Bowyer

POINTS BACK: 58

LAST FIVE RACES: 12th, 6th, 36th, 5th , 23rd

CAREER AT RICHMOND: 25 starts, 2 wins, 4 top-five, 13.2 average finish

BUZZ: Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford wasn’t on the Vegas accident report. He just rolled snake eyes in Sin City. It’s time to step up or step off. Of his 10 career wins, two have come at Richmond’s .75-mile oval.

Alex Bowman

POINTS BACK: 59

LAST FIVE RACES: 19th, 8th, 23rd, 33rd , 19th

CAREER AT RICHMOND: 5 starts, 0 wins, 0 top-five, 30.6 average finish

BUZZ: Of all drivers mentioned to date, Bowman has the least amount of success. He has yet to score a Cup Series win and just barely made it into the playoffs. This is a building year for the 25-year-old.

The wild bunch

Jimmie Johnson

POINTS BACK: 65

LAST FIVE RACES: 28th, 9th, 39th, 16th , 22nd

CAREER AT RICHMOND: 33 starts, 3 wins, 7 top-five, 15.3 average finish

BUZZ: If the comeback for the ages is going to happen, it has to start this week. This is a solid track for the seven-time NASCAR champion, who needs a gob of points, or a long-awaited victory.

Chase Elliott

POINTS BACK: 68

LAST FIVE RACES: 9th, 3rd, 5th, 15th , 36th

CAREER AT RICHMOND: 6 starts, 0 wins, 1 top-five, 13.8 average finish

BUZZ: Jamie McMurray had a tire issue and lassoed Elliott’s No. 9 Chevy into an unexpected retaining-wall fray. The crash caused a “pop” in Elliott’s left shoulder, adding injury to insult.

Erik Jones

POINTS BACK: 78

LAST FIVE RACES: 13th, 5th, 8th, 2nd , 40th

CAREER AT RICHMOND: 3 starts, 0 wins, 0 top-five, 19.0 average finish

BUZZ: Talk about penthouse to outhouse. Jones started on the pole and finished last at Vegas. The only hope here is a Hail Mary victory, which is not impossible, but highly improbable. Wait until next year.

Denny Hamlin

POINTS BACK: 79

LAST FIVE RACES: 8th, 14th, 10th, 3rd , 32nd

CAREER AT RICHMOND: 24 starts, 3 wins, 11 top-five, 9.3 average finish

BUZZ: Of the 16 drivers still standing, only Kyle Busch has a better finishing average than Hamlin at Richmond. Car owner Joe Gibbs has been on Hamlin to win and this looks like his best chance to advance.

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