NASCAR CHASE FOR THE SPRINT CUP CHAMPIONSHIP

Keselowski lets followers know he’s champ

NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Brad Keselowski (center) got a chance to hoist the Sprint Cup on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla. Keselowski beat five-time champion Jimmie Johnson by 40 points after Johnson had to quit with 43 laps to go.
NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Brad Keselowski (center) got a chance to hoist the Sprint Cup on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla. Keselowski beat five-time champion Jimmie Johnson by 40 points after Johnson had to quit with 43 laps to go.

— Here’s a tweet for Brad Keselowski: NASCAR champion.

Roger Penske must like the sound of that, too.

Keselowski, 28, who stole the show at the season-opening Daytona 500 ended the year under the biggest spotlight of them all Sunday, beating five-time champion Jimmie Johnson to deliver the first Sprint Cup championship to Penske Racing.

His first act as champion? Sending a tweet, of course, from inside his car: “We did it!”

Later, from the championship stage, Keselowski said, “Always, throughout my whole life I’ve been told I’m not big enough, not fast enough, not strong enough and I don’t have what it takes.

“I’ve used that as a chip on my shoulder to carry me through my whole career. It took until this year for me to realize that that was right,man, they were right.

“I’m not big enough, fast enough, strong enough. No person is. Only a team can do that.”

So, with the Penske organization behind him, he delivered a trophy that had eluded “The Captain” since his 1972 NASCAR debut. Penske motorsports is considered the gold standard of open wheel racing - 15 Indianapolis 500 victories - and his empire has made Penske one of the most successful businessmen in America.

But his NASCAR team has always been just average.

Then came Keselowski, who visited Penske in 2008 convinced the NASCAR team could win, too.

On Sunday, they hoisted the Sprint Cup trophy together at Homestead-Miami Speedway after Keselowski’s 15th-place finish in the season’s final race.

“It’s all about the people in our organization and obviously Brad coming on our board three years ago, and we set a plan and we stuck to it,” Penske, 75, said. “To win this championship is amazing.”

Keselowski needed 125 starts to win his first championship, the fewest since four-time champion Jeff Gordon won his first title in 93 starts in 1995. Keselowski also won a second-tier Nationwide title in 2010, his first season with Penske and the owner’s first official NASCAR championship.

Gordon, who was fined $100,000 by NASCAR for intentionally wrecking Clint Bowyer last week at Phoenix, overcame the controversy to win the race in a 20th anniversary celebration for sponsor Dupont and Hendrick Motorsports.

It was Gordon’s first victory at Homestead - and he beat out Bowyer, who ended up second in Sunday’s race and the Chase.

Ryan Newman, not in the Chase, finished third Sunday, Newman got his break in NASCAR with Penske and spent seven seasons driving for the owner.

Keselowski started the race up 20 points on Johnson, who blew a tire and crashed last week at Phoenix to give Keselowski a nice cushion. He needed to finish 15th or higher in the finale to wrap up his first championship.

And this one got tight, too, especially when Keselowski ran out of gas on pit road during green flag pit stops. It put him a lap down with Johnson leading, and Keselowski and crew chief Paul Wolfe frantically tried to figure out how dire the situation had become.

Wolfe crunched the numbers, figuring the No. 2 Dodge would cycle out in the mid-20s, a lap down from the leaders.

“I know the scenario, and it’s not good,” Keselowski said.

But minutes later, Johnson went to pit road for his own stop and pulled away with a missing lug nut. NASCAR flagged the Hendrick Motorsports team and Johnson was forced back to pit road for another stop.

The Penske team was unsure if Keselowski wanted to know what was going on with Johnson.

“I’ve got a big picture story if you want to hear it,” a team member radioed, then informed Keselowski that Johnson had to pit again.

“Ten-four. Thank you for telling me. We’re back in the game. I got it,” he said.

It got worse for Johnson from there. He broke a rear end gear in his Chevrolet and went to the garage with 40 laps to go, essentially clinching the championship for Keselowski.

“It all unraveled pretty quick,” Johnson said.

Sports, Pages 13 on 11/19/2012

Upcoming Events