Blazingly Bad Brad Keselowski cruised into the next round of the 2020 NASCAR Playoffs with his win Saturday night at Richmond Raceway.
The No. 2 Team Penske Ford driver led a race-high 192 of the 400 laps on the .75-mile Virginia track. Keselowski beat Martin Truex Jr. to the checkered flag by 2.568 seconds. Joey Logano followed in third, while Austin Dillon and Chase Elliott were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Kyle Busch, polesitter Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Alex Bowman and Clint Bowyer completed the Federated Auto Parts 400’s top 10 in order.
The showdown marked the NASCAR Cup Series’ second race in the Round of 16. Keselowski and Harvick, winner of last week’s event at Darlington Raceway, are the only two title contenders who won their way into the Round of 12 so far. Hamlin, meanwhile, clinched a spot by virtue of points.
Keselowski may have led the most laps in the field, but there were four other drivers who cracked double digits. Dillon was out front for a second-best 55 circuits. Logano and Hamlin had 45 turns apiece. Harvick then had 42, and Kurt Busch had 15.
Denny Hamlin won Stage 1 on Lap 80 after a long battle with Dillon and Logano. Keselowski won Stage 2 on Lap 235 followed by Dillon and Truex.
THE FRATERNAL ORDER OF THE GO FAST
None of the players were fortunate enough to have checked out their crystal balls this week to know in advance that Blazingly Bad Brad was going to drive his hot rod into Victory Lane. Therefore, this prestigious award will be tucked back into the closet til Bristol.
It is quite interesting how all eleven players racked up some very big scores at Richmond. While nobody was riding shotgun with Keselowski this week, the players still did very well in their scores!
The players that led the way in their race scores this week is the duo of Carole, aka Rudy, and our Most Benevolent and Humble Sheriff. Both players were betting the farm on Sliced Bread, and Joey Logano responded for them. Both players added 49 much needed points into their 3rd segment buckets.
Jim, aka Chiefy, was all alone on the branch that he was watching this short track race from. Chiefy held on to his Martin Truex, Jr. card until this weekend when he dropped it on the group. Tonight he is sitting back, picking and grinning when he noticed that he earned 47 points all by his lonesome.
Meanwhile, you can bet that Bernie The Bay Area Bandit is sitting back with a huge smirk on her face as she tallied her totals. La Bandita pushed her chips all in for William Clyde Elliott, Jr. Saturday night. You see Chase deposited 41 points into La Bandita’s 3rd segment bucket when the checkered flag flew at Richmond.
Stop me if yo have heard this before! Amber The Extremely Lucky Cheddar Head has had another very good day at the race track. The Cheddar Head was hanging out with Freaky Fast Kevin Harvick all weekend at Richmond. For her weekend support she was rewarded very nicely with 37 points for the race.
The remaining players in the fantasy league (with the exception of Linda The Cookie Mom – more on her later in the post), nearly one half of the total membership, was hanging with the decidedly overwhelming odds on favorite at Richmond, The Delivernator. Denny Hamlin’s Richmond supporters include Jeremy The Coach, Snoopy Dawn, Carlton The Doorman, Edie The Las Vegas Super Star, Dan The Numbers Cruncher. All these Hamlin supporters added 35 points to their totals.
This was a really odd week when referring to movement on the leaderboard. Only three players out of the eleven actually traded places. Carole, aka Rudy was the highest moving player, shuttling two (2) places. Rudy stepped up to land in 7th place this week.
However, both Bernie The Bay Area Bandit and Linda The Cookie Mom did not fair quite so well, dropping one position each to rest in 8th and 9th, respectively.
STRAIGHT FROM THE CRAPPER
Speaking about oddities this week, the player who won The Crappiest Pick of The Week award could have, on any given week, been the player who recorded the highest point total. Unfortunately, that was not the case this week. The player who won this award racked up 33 points, that is almost mind blowing! But a deal is a deal and Linda The Cookie Mom is presented The Crappiest Pick of The Week with her 33 point score!
Meanhwhile back in The Outhouse, and you could stop me once again if you have heard this one as well. Our man the accountant, Dan The Numbers Dude, gets another weeks worth of all expenses paid down at the end of Lonely Street, directly across from the Heart Break Hotel in our lavishly decorated Outhouse! SALUTE!
Check out the results of the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond.
Next week it is off to Bristol.
TIL NEXT TIME, PULL YOUR BELTS TIGHT AND LET’S GO RACIN’!