Brad Keselowski hopes to bounce back from last week

Sporting News / NASCAR Wire Service

Kansas City

Brad Keselowski proved a lot of things to a lot of people earlier this year when he won the June Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway. When Keselowski returns to the 1.5-mile Kansas track for this weekend’s Hollywood Casino 400, it will be proving time again.

This time, he will be out to prove that he can bounce back from last week’s disappointing 20th-place finish at Dover in the third event of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

“We do want to send a message this weekend that we are going to fight to the finish,” Keselowski said.

Keselowski arrived at Kansas the first week in June as a driver known more for a feisty attitude than for being a major threat to collect trophies. He had one Sprint Cup victory in his career — that being the one at Talladega in the spring of 2009 when he launched the car of Carl Edwards up off the track and into the frontstretch catch fence.

It was a memorable finish for Keselowski, who was driving partial seasons for three owners that year, but one that was more flashy than significant.

In 2010, Keselowski moved to Penske full time, and many thought significant wins would quickly follow. It didn’t happen, as he was able to log just one top-five finish in the next 48 races leading up to the spring race in Kansas this year.

When he took the green flag at the Kansas race, Keselowski was 25th in points and thought of more as Kurt Busch’s teammate than Chase material. But when he took the checkered flag, he was on his way to being a top story.

“That win at Kansas was special because we knew we were doing the right things to be successful, but just didn’t get the luck needed to win,” Keselowski said this week. “Winning at Kansas was a validation, of sorts, and it was definitely the catalyst for what we were able to accomplish as the summer months wore on.”

Ah, the summer months of 2011. Only once since that day in Kansas has Keselowski not finished on the lead lap of a Cup race. He has won two more races since and has become one of the most consistently successful drivers in the series.

He climbed into the Chase via one of two wild-card berths and placed fifth and second in the first two races of the playoff.

All was going well … until Dover last week. Keselowski and his team ran into problems at the Monster Mile. They finished 20th and dropped from third to sixth in the standings.

“We had some misfortune at Dover with the power steering belt getting knocked off, but we were able to battle back and get the best finish we could,” Keselowski said. “It’s tough when you have a good car — and we had a really good car at Dover — and you can’t capitalize on the points leader having a bad day.”