If not for the expensive pit street miscue on Sunday, Brad Keselowski would’ve left Pocono Raceway with a top-5 end as a substitute of P9 or maybe even challenged Chase Briscoe for the win. No less than, that’s the in style narrative. However Denny Hamlin isn’t shopping for it.
Talking on his podcast, the veteran Joe Gibbs Racing driver popped the Keselowski hype bubble, delivering the 2012 Cup Sequence champion a harsh actuality test, served with a pinch of salt.
Denny Hamlin Points No Free Move for Brad Keselowski After Pocono Blunder
The No. 6 Ford Mustang was quick, and so was its driver, who led a season-high 27 laps on the 2.5-mile tri-oval. The truth is, the statistics additionally highlighted that truth. The Cup veteran topped the Presser Ranking on the “Difficult Triangle” and ranked third in restarts, with robust Velocity and Protection scores as nicely, based on NASCAR Insights.
But, two essential errors turned what may’ve been a season-changing race right into a day of disappointment. Talking about which, the “Actions Detrimental” co-host requested Hamlin for his take. Reflecting on the No. 6 driver’s second miscue that got here within the closing laps when Keselowski took the gamble and stayed out as a substitute of following his crew chief Jeremy Bullins’ name, Hamlin famous,
“All the time belief your crew chief; they’ve a a lot greater image than what you do. It didn’t change, although; he wasn’t going to win the race. We have to settle that as a result of he wasn’t up entrance at the moment, they saved him out.”
To recap the race, Keselowski was up entrance when he pitted on Lap 57 when the pit roads had been closed. This resulted in a penalty, sending him straight to the again of the pack all the best way from the entrance on the restart. This was the primary misstep the motive force took.
Then got here the aforementioned closing-lap gamble. Bullins urged the 41-year-old to pit on Lap 124/160. Nevertheless, the RFK Racing co-owner opted to remain out an additional lap, biking to the lead and utilizing the clear air in entrance of him to attempt to construct a spot on the sector.
To make issues worse, on Lap 125, Shane van Gisbergen spun off Flip 1, bringing the yellow flag, primarily derailing the veteran’s technique. Consequently, the race’s prior leaders obtained to the entrance, whereas Keselowski restarted from P24 for the remaining 30 laps.
Regardless of the setbacks, Keselowski clawed his method again for a top-10 end, marking the staff’s second-best results of the 2025 season up to now.
