Bad Day Goes Worse For Brad Keselowski

Former Talladega Superspeedway winner Brad Keselowski appeared to have a good car in Sunday’s Aaron’s 499, but an incident just 14 laps into the second restrictor plate race of the season set the tone for what would be one of his longest days of the season.

After pushing Stewart Haas Racing’s Danica Patrick to the front and into the lead, Keselowski switched to the middle lane to try and pass Patrick for the top-spot. However, when he attempted to move back down into the inside lane in front of Patrick’s No. 10, contact was made, sending No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion off the track.

Brilliantly, Keselowski never spun — even after coming back onto the track in Turn 1, in front of several cars. The incident, however, brought out the first caution flag of the day and sent Keselowski to pit road for repairs. He would lose several laps as his team tried to repair the radiator on his car.

Keselowski would return to the track in 43rd, but their day only continued to spiral down from there.

With a competitive car still in his hands, Keselowski would find himself in the lead pack, but when he lost control of his car on Lap 137, it ignited a 14-car pileup that included favorites Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

With a mangled race car, Keselowski headed to the garage for repairs. He would eventually return, 28 laps down and be credited with a 38th place finish.

“I just spun out in front of the whole field,” said Keselowski. “I don’t know why, if I just busted my butt on my own or lost a tire, but I feel bad for everyone that got torn up. We had a really fast Team Penske Ford, but I just feel bad for the whole Miller Lite team.”

The 2012 champion also gave his insight on the incident with Patrick. “We took the lead there and made a really aggressive move to take the lead and then it all just kind of bottlenecked from there. I don’t know if I cut somebody off or got ran over, but just enough to get spun out and tear the car up.”