Brad Keselowski was disappointed after his first top five finish of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season sharing that he believed he had a car to win.
Speaking to the media following the race, Keselowski was asked if he was happy with the result, he answered, “Yeah, I mean, not displeased, but I think we had a shot to win the race today. Like to get the middle of the race back. I feel like if the middle of the race would’ve gone more favorably we could’ve realized it. Still, a really strong day for us and a lot of speed and something to build off to go to Nashville and win.”
Keselowski went on to recap his race, “There was a lot to battle, for sure. You know, I thought we started the race pretty well, started to drive up, had a pit road penalty there around lap 40, 50, went to the back again, and drove back up there. I got in a really good spot and I just started getting loose, really loose. And in the middle of the race I couldn’t drive it I was so loose. We lost a lap. Came in, made some adjustments, fixed some pieces on the car, and got it tightened up. And I was like, ‘Alright, now I got a car that could run. And drove all the way up to fifth there during the last 100 laps of the race. Felt like we had a car to win. I would like to see this be the Coke 700, but still not a bad day.”
When asked about having a Top 5 finish, Keselowski made it even more clear he was disappointed with the finish, “Top 10s in this sport, Top 5s don’t mean that much, wins do. You know, it’s nice. It shows what were capable of to some degree, but I want to win.”
“This car was good enough to win today,” he added. “We bring this level of effort and just continue to refine it, we win next week.”
.@keselowski believes he had a winning car tonight and is now very eager to get to Nashville after a 5th-place run at Charlotte. #CocaCola600 #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/g3RG8m28f5
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) May 26, 2025
Keselowski is currently 32nd in the NASCAR Cup Series points. He’s 319 points behind current leader William Byron. As for the playoff picture, he’s also in 32nd, 100 points behind his teammate and driver Ryan Preece, who has 280 points and currently sits in 16th place.
In order to make the playoffs, it’s likely that he will have to win a race. The playoffs begin on August 31st at Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500. There are only 13 races until that race.
What do you make of Keselowski’s comments?