Watkins Glen International has produced some great NASCAR Cup Series finishes over the years, and this past Sunday (Sept. 15) was no different. Chris Buescher made a dramatic last-lap pass on Shane van Gisbergen to win The Go Bowling at The Glen, a consolation prize for the No. 17 team not making the playoffs.
Sunday marked the first time Watkins Glen was a part of the Cup Series playoffs, and numerous playoff drivers had issues that shook things up around the cut line. One playoff driver in particular had a myriad of maladies both on the track and on pit road.
Brad Keselowski and the Terrible, Awful, No Good, Very Bad Day
Brad Keselowski entered Watkins Glen one point below Ty Gibbs for the final spot in the Round of 12. Once the green flag flew in the Finger Lakes of New York, the 2012 Cup Series champion and his No. 6 team did themselves no favors.
In addition to getting embroiled in three on-track incidents, Keselowski was hit with two penalties on pit road.
On the No. 6 RFK Racing team’s first pit stop on lap 17, Keselowski got caught speeding on pit exit, forcing him to start stage two at the tail of the field on a day where green-flag passes were hard to come by for just about everyone.
Fast forwarding to lap 36, Keselowski’s pit crew tripped up by committing an uncontrolled tire violation. This sent the No. 6 Ford to the back of the pack, starting from scratch in terms of track position.
This poor execution on pit stops, plus all the on-track issues, added up to a 26th-place finish for Keselowski, who will head into the Round of 16 cutoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway 12 points below the cut line.
While it’s not quite a must-win situation, Keselowski and the No. 6 crew need to clean up the mistakes and execute well as a team if they wish to see the Round of 12.
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