The drivers formed OEM alliances again. The Toyota team had pushed Tyler Reddick to Victory Lane in April. Now in October, it was the Ford’s chance to shine as they rallied together for the final push at Talladega. Brad Keselowski was in that fold, giving RFK Racing a much-needed solid finish, although he got ejected in the Round of 16. However, he did not view every Ford driver as his brethren.

A race-defining wreck unfolded at the very end—and also rescripted the racetrack’s history. For Keselowski, it meant a potential loss of a chance to victory. So the RFK co-owner could not help but slip a note of despair and also of angst at a particular rival post-race.

Brad Keselowski muffles his attack

The final few laps of the April race also witnessed Brad Keselowski banging fenders with a Front Row Motorsports driver. As Tyler Reddick led on the white flag lap, Keselowski pushed Michael McDowell, but the latter blocked the No. 6 Ford in the outside lane. However, the FRM driver spun out in the process. The YellaWood 500 race also saw a mishap that turned into the largest “Big One” in Talladega history, involving 28 cars. And Keselowski pointed fingers at McDowell’s teammate.

Speaking to Bob Pockrass post-race, Brad Keselowski at first talked about how the Fords united. “The Fords had the entire bottom lane, Bob. The Chevys had the middle lane.” But then Todd Gilliland‘s No. 34 car was a lapped car and acted out of sync. “Something happened to the 38 car when we were lapping him. And he stayed in the bottom lane and blocked it. When he blocked the bottom lane with all the Fords in it, it caused us all to react. We stretched it – six rubber bands – we were stretched rubber bands and snapped back down the backstretch.”

He continued, shifting the blame from his former team, Team Penske, drivers. “You know, I caught the 2 car – checked up a little bit. The 22 came and hit me and then all three of us kind of ran into each other. Just the end of the race deal there.” This melee involving 8 of the 12 playoff drivers buried Brad Keselowski’s chances to cruise for a victory.

But Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got away from him with a razor-sharp 0.006-second margin. “We almost left…Unfortunately, the wreck on the backstretch really dampened out all those things. So wanted to get a really good push from the five, I did…just wasn’t quite enough.” 

Even Joey Logano actively staved off any accusation for his former teammate, although he finds himself in an icky spot at present.

Postseason wins may be in vain

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Well, the uncertainty of Talladega Superspeedway always adds an extra layer of nervousness in drivers’ minds. It also ensured that for the unfortunate No. 22 team of Joey Logano, who got caught in the biggest crash at the fearsome track. Ever since Logano clinched the Atlanta victory, his postseason fate has seen a downward trend, barely scratching the top-15 cream. This time, his result was the worst. After 185 laps of fairly clean racing, the pinballing No. 2 Ford of Austin Cindric cleared out most of the field. Yet like Brad Keselowski, Logano staved off blame from his Ford compatriots, despite finding himself below the playoff cut line after the race.

“Everyone just gets more aggressive at the end of the races,” Logano told media at the track after being cleared from the infield car center. “The No. 2 got out there a little bit more than what he has been. The No. 21 gave me a shove, and I transferred that to the No. 6. You can’t see what’s in front of you from there. He got to the No. 2 with a fair amount of steam; it’s nobody’s fault, it’s not Brad’s fault, it’s not anybody’s fault. It’s the product of the races we’ve got. Everyone gets more and more aggressive as the laps wind down. It happens; it happens a lot.”

Maybe this humble approach will award him with some speed next weekend because Logano will need it at Charlotte. Meanwhile, Brad Keselowski is rejoicing alongside Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in their spoiler attempts.