The next round of this year’s NASCAR Playoffs is about to begin and the drivers who have been predicted to be the contenders for the Cup championship this year are all still very much in the picture, names such as Kyle Larson, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, and Martin Truex Jr. But apart from those four drivers, there could be, as is usually the case, an underdog, a surprise contender. And this year, that surprise name could be Brad Keselowski, according to Steve Letarte.
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The former crew chief turned analyst recently nominated the Roush Fenway Keselowski driver-owner to be this year’s surprise contender who could make it to the final four in Phoenix despite not being on many predictions list. To back his point, Letarte resorted to the example of last year’s Cup champion, Joey Logano to make his point about Keselowski.
Steve Letarte backs Brad Keselowski to be this year’s surprise Final 4 contender
During a recent conversation about the odds for drivers, which, for Keselowski, are 12 to 1, Steve Letarte explained why the #6 driver could make it to Phoenix considering Joey Logano did the same last season. He said, “I think one or the two favorites make it to Phoenix every year. But there’s always like, even Joey Logano, the champ, he is the champ. He is the reigning champ, no longer the defending champ because he’s been kicked out of the playoffs.”
“Nobody really had him going to Phoenix or at least I didn’t. But he went there and held anyone along the championship. So I only say that because this is like, Kes’ would be a guy I could get to the championship four.”
Having said that, Letarte added that Keselowski won’t be the favorite for the championship. But his experience and his “swagger” could be to his advantage, especially heading into Texas now. “When he lines up row 2 or 3 at Texas, I don’t think he’s gonna be nerve-filled. He’s super analytical. He’s been there before. He’s gonna do what he does,” Letarte described.
“He’s either gonna be good enough or not but I don’t hate the Kes’ bet.”
Keselowski on his team’s success in 2023
So far this season, RFK Racing has emerged as the top Ford team. In fact, both of their drivers are still in the playoffs while for a powerhouse like Team Penske, there’s only one driver, Ryan Blaney. Moreover, this year they’ve already won 3 races. This is obviously a big step forward for the organization. But as per Keselowski, they’re still going to measure themselves based on their results.
“The world’s going to measure ourselves based on results. One of the things that’s really important to me is as it comes to the race team, we don’t want people to set individual goals,” he said.
Keselowski claimed that the year they’re currently having, they could’ve anticipated it at the start of the season. However, they couldn’t have known how it would play out, which would be more so the case going forward. Because at this point, Brad Keselowski & Co. are in the playoffs, and they’re competing for wins almost every week, which could, at least in theory, take them to the ultimate prize at the end of the season in Phoenix.
