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Engine woes doom Brad Keselowski's 2016 championship hopes

TALLADEGA, Ala.—After a day in which he’d thoroughly dominated both the field and the track, a day that ended with a championship-killing engine failure, Brad Keselowski spoke for exactly 49 seconds. That was probably 48 seconds more than he needed; you could sum up Keselowski’s frustration with one single FCC-forbidden curse.

Keselowski didn’t need a win to advance to the next round of the Chase, but he needed an exceptionally strong afternoon. And that’s exactly what he put together, using both strategy and physics to lead a race-high 90 laps. But on lap 144, Keselowski’s engine suddenly gave out, and he lurched from second place down to the apron before heading straight to the garage. The failure means Keselowski will not have enough points to advance to the next round of the Chase.

“Just wasn’t meant to be,” Keselowski said moments after climbing from the smoking car. “That’s the way it goes.” After a few minutes, he appeared on NBC, holding his daughter and allowing that “We got our whining out of the way … we’re going to go and try to win the next four races.”

Like Martin Truex Jr., another championship contender whose day ended early because of engine trouble, Keselowski has seen a four-win season effectively, and literally, go up in smoke. Drivers were worried about other cars wrecking them and destroying their Chase chances; turns out that for Keselowski and Truex, the looming trouble was much closer than any other car.

Brad Keselowski is 10 points lighter (Getty Images).
Brad Keselowski was not able to advance in the 2016 Chase. (Getty Images)

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.