Home

NASCAR

Brad Keselowski’s Spotter Refuses to Take Blame After Triggering Another Wreck at a Superspeedway

Published 02/26/2024, 10:05 PM EST

Follow Us

via Getty

In a terrible turn of events, Brad Keselowski, who had been eyeing a decisive race result on Sunday, hit a new low going 100 races without a Cup win. In fact, the 2012 Cup Series champion is yet to claim to claim a win in the RFK Racing equipment that he owns.

Keselowski was one of the many drivers involved in a wreck at Atlanta Motor Speedway. His 33rd-place finish in the Ambetter Health 400 marked the 100th consecutive race without a win for the former NASCAR Cup Series champion. With the veteran slipping up in Atlanta, he collected an innocent Kyle Larson on his way, but his loyal spotter was still by his side despite the dismal turnout.

TJ Majors defends Brad Keselowski after his dismal performance at Atlanta

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

All in all, it was a disastrous race for Brad Keselowski and HMS drivers. All of their drivers were involved in wrecks throughout the race. First, it was Alex Bowman and William Byron; later on, Elliott had his own incident. Now, to add to that misery, Kyle Larson also was caught up in the latest crash. It all began when Brad Keselowski lost control and collected the #5 of Larson.

Corey LaJoie was another innocent victim, and their races were jeopardized. It was a real shame because Larson was an early race leader and was trading the race lead with Kyle Busch for a while. Sadly, the slip-up from Keselowski pretty much ended the#5 driver’s race. The #6 Ford’s slip in turns three and four in the high lane made it impossible for Larson and LaJoie to swerve past the wreck.

Reflecting on the mishap, Keselowski’s spotter TJ Majors detailed what was going on when DBC podcast’s co-host Casey Boat asked him, “What was going on? How was communication with, you guys, was there anything that could have avoided that?” 

He replied, “We didn’t really have anybody in front of us at that point in time… We’re playing offense and defense at the same time. And at that point in the race, when you’re on the outside lane, you have to be defensive of the middle and the high side, and the #5 kind of went into the corner a little bit higher than us out back and we’d been running the same kind of line where you kind of go in, not really in the middle, not really in the top.” 

Furthermore, he added, “So the guy really can’t make a move and doesn’t know it. I mean, it just snaps so quick. I didn’t even see him wiggle. It just snaps. So I’m not 100% sure, you know if something didn’t happen… But it looked like Chris(Buescher) did the same thing earlier. But our car was really good. Really, really stable. He was happy with it.” 

Following the late wreck, Keselowski finished in the bottom thirties at the 33rd spot whereas his driver Buescher finished inside the top 10.

Revisiting Keselowski’s late-race wreck that took out Larson

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest NASCAR stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

Looking to snap his winless drought, one that has been on him since 2021 when he last won a race in Talladega, #6 driver Brad Keselowski was optimistic about making a turnaround. The driver was running in third place when his No. 6 King’s Hawaiian Ford Mustang snapped loose and spun around in turns three and four, collecting two more drivers.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Larson, Keselowski, and LaJoie had managed to keep their vehicles clean throughout the initial phase of Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but it was all for nothing after a late-race pileup ruined their plans. Just like his spotter said, going into the turn, the #6 Ford, just out of nowhere, snapped and lost control. And since it was on the high lane there was no escape for Larson and LaJoie, who were just behind the #6.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

With the three-car accident late in Sunday’s race, there were only six drivers in the 37-car field that hadn’t been collected in an incident throughout the chaotic race.

“It Was a Bad Day” – Failing to Reach Their Potential, RFK Racing Driver Ready to Leave Drafting Behind

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Kishore R

1,146Articles

One take at a time

Kishore is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. He actively covers live events and does detailed race analyses, helping fans understand the very nitty gritties of the sport. Using the right mix of storytelling and game expertise, Kishore can take his readers on a journey to see how a particular race was for some of their most loved drivers, like Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott.
Show More>

Edited by:

Vishav