Keselowski Focused on Winning Coke 600 After Kansas Disappointment

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. There's perhaps nobody who lives up to that adage more than Brad Keselowski and the No. 6 RFK Racing team. Heading into this weekend's race at Kansas Speedway, the driver and team were mired 32nd in the championship standings, and seemingly everything that could go wrong this season had gone wrong.

Then came the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, where Keselowski was one of five drivers who encountered a cut tire in Saturday's practice session, which put him behind the eight ball for Sunday's race, as he would have to start at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.

However, the 36th-place starting spot couldn't keep Keselowski held down for long.

The No. 6 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse came to life from the drop of the green flag, and the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion clawed his way to the 14th position by the end of the opening Stage of the race.

It was an impressive turnaround, but Keselowski was only getting started.

Keselowski would continue the climb in Stage 2, as the driver of the No. 6 car would finish sixth in Stage 2, which allowed him to pocket five Stage Points.

In the final Stage, Keselowski emerged as a true contender for the race win, as he found himself in the second position with under 100 laps remaining in the event. With 73 laps remaining, Keselowski had sliced Chase Elliott's race lead down dramatically to under a second, and it appeared he was merely laps away from having a chance to snatch the lead from Elliott.

Then, the right rear tire on Keselowski's No. 6 machine would cut down, which would send him hard into the outside wall in Turn 1, bringing his race to an early end.

The promising day for Keselowski netted the driver a disappointing 37th-place finish, and despite having a shot at winning the race, Keselowski actually dropped another spot in the championship standings to 33rd.

In a season where they've been snake-bitten, it would be very easy for most to throw their hands up and let the frustration overcome them. But that's not Keselowski's style. He, crew chief Jeremy Bullins, and the entire No. 6 RFK Racing team are determined to push past the bad luck and come out on the other side successful.

"A lot of things just not coming together, and that's how the sport goes," Keselowski said of his bad luck. "You ride the wave, and we're on the bad side of the wave. But we're going to push hard to get to the right side of it."

While you would expect a driver to come away from a 37th-place finish completely shaken, Keselowski considered the speed of the No. 6 Ford on Sunday at Kansas a moral victory, and he feels that if they can keep bringing cars to the track like the one they had on Sunday, the wins will roll in.

"Yeah, there's absolutely [moral victories]. We put ourselves in a position like that, you win races," Keselowski said after being evaluated and released from the infield care center. "I felt like this is a pretty significant overhaul of the 6 team from where we were last year. There's some pieces that are starting to click. Maybe not getting the result, but showing the potential to get the result. Today was a step forward for us, even though the running order or finishing order isn't going to show it."

While it was a disappointing finish to the race in a season that's been chuck-full of disappointment, all it takes to completely turn around a rough season with the current NASCAR Cup Series Playoff format is a win.

After how he performed at Kansas Speedway, Keselowski's mindset has shifted to preparing to compete for a win in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in a couple of weeks.

"Yeah, go win the Coke 600, that's where my emotions are at," Keselowski stated confidently. "Bring cars and speed like this to the Coke 600, let's go win it."

After a strong performance at Kansas Speedway, which was snuffed out early due to a tire being cut down, Keselowski is likely the most confident driver you've ever seen, who has ranked 33rd in the championship standings. And that confidence could be a dangerous thing if it continues to build.

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