Brad Keselowski

Brad Keselowski has won the Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway, completing 500 grueling miles with a broken left ankle. Keselowski competed with a brace on his ankle on Sunday and sped off on the final restart late in the race. He gingerly climbed out of his car to celebrate with his crew in Victory Lane. He's an unlikely winner after he crashed head-on into a wall on Wednesday during a test session at Road Atlanta. Keselowski slammed a section of wall at 100 mph and was forced out of the Nationwide Series race.

When Brad Keselowski won his first Sprint Cup race in 2009, fans said "Who?" When he won last summer at Kansas, people asked "Really?". But after running off three victories and finishing fifth in points last season, people expect BK to be a contender in 2012. Keselowski relished the underdog under the radar roll last season, so it will be interesting to see how he deals with being a front runner this year. He told me on the Sprint Cup Media Tour that being a front runner will be a different challenge, but one he looks forward to. He's the biggest question for Keselowski, how will he deal with being the "A" driver for both Penske Racing and Dodge.

Every driver, Down in NASCAR Liked points racing a lot... (okay not so much but work with me here) But Keselowski, Brad Keselowski, Did NOT! Keselowski hated points racing! The NASCAR post-season! Now, please don't ask why, Everyone knows the reason. It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right. It could be, perhaps, that his cars were setup too tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all May have been that he just liked winning most of all. But, Whatever the reason, His head or his cars, He stood there on Chase Eve, ready to take on NASCAR, Staring up from fourth place, with a his Keselowski frown At the vets and past Champions, who had all been around                                                         For he knew every driver both above and below                                                                        Has plotted a strategy, was ready to go. "And they're hanging new bodies!"

Brad Keselowski grabbed the lead on a restart with eight laps to go, then pulled away to win the NASCAR Nationwide race at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday. Carl Edwards finished second, barely edging out a charging Kyle Busch. Justin Allgaier was fourth, followed by Paul Menard. It was the fourth Nationwide victory of the season and 10th of his career for Keselowski, who holds a dominant lead in the series points standings. Meanwhile, it was another rough day at the racetrack for Danica Patrick, who went down a lap to the leaders early on and struggled to a 27th-place finish.

Kyle Busch has completed an unprecedented NASCAR sweep of Bristol Motor Speedway with a drama-free Sprint Cup win Saturday night. Busch became the first driver in NASCAR history to win all three national events in the same week. He won the Nationwide race Friday night, and the Trucks race Wednesday night. Emporia, Kan. native Clint Bowyer finished fourth and took home 165 points for his efforts. Busch intentionally wrecked Brad Keselowski to win the Nationwide race, and the two traded barbs and egged on the crowd leading up to the start of the Cup race.

Tony Stewart passed Jimmie Johnson on a restart with three laps to go Sunday and surged into contention for his third NASCAR Sprint Cup championship with three races left. The victory was the third for Stewart in the first seven races of the 10-race playoffs. Stewart moved from 19 points behind leader Carl Edwards and in fourth place to just eight points behind in second as several contenders got caught up in a season-high 18 caution flags. Edwards struggled all day, but rallied to finish ninth and held on to a lead that he seemed likely to lose.

Joey Logano held off teammate Kyle Busch on two late restarts to win the Nationwide Series race at Kansas Speedway. Logano got past Busch on a restart with six laps remaining in Saturday's race, but a crash by Aric Almirola brought out a caution flag a lap later. Logano knew holding Busch off on the final restart would be difficult, but a huge push from points leader Brad Keselowski gave him the run he needed to break free of Busch. It was the second Nationwide win of the season for Logano and 16th of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Brad Keselowski took the lead when Elliott Sadler was penalized for jumping a late restart, then held on to win Saturday in a controversial finish to the first NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Sadler passed Keselowski on a restart with 18 laps to go, but officials ruled that Sadler went too early and black-flagged him. Sadler stayed on the track for several laps, apparently hoping officials would reconsider the penalty, before finally coming in with 12 laps to go and giving up the lead to Keselowski.

Matt Kenseth took the pole Sunday at one of his favorite places after setting a track qualifying record of 191.864 mph at Kansas Speedway. Kenseth won the fall race at Kansas last season, and hasn't finished outside the top 10 since having engine trouble in the 2009 race. He has finished in the top five at Kansas five times. Carl Edwards will start on the front row for the first time at Kansas after qualifying second with a lap of 191.748. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. qualified third.

On Sunday Danica Patrick became the first woman to lead the Daytona 500 under green and the highest finishing woman (8th). "I'm honored.  But, again, these are things that just happen along the way," said Patrick. "I'm on the quest to be the best driver, run up front, get to Victory Lane.  These things happen and I'm proud, but they're not the ultimate goal. " Danica Patrick's success is good for the sport of NASCAR. Danica Patrick's success is also bad for the sport of NASCAR.

No one saw the run Brad Keselowski had in 2012 coming, but maybe we should have based on the way he finished in 2011. But it is extremely difficult to continue to develop at the torrid a pace, so look for Keselowski to level off in 2013. Now, that doesn't mean BK won't be competitive this season, not by a long shot. Keselowski doesn't roll that way, he's a fighter and a winner. There will be plenty of changes for Keselowski in 2013, including a new manufacturer and a new teammate.

No one saw this coming. No one.   Brad Keselowski won his first race in 2009 at Talladega Superspeedway, running a part-time schedule with single-car team Phoenix Racing. It was a nice story in a long season, one that ended with Jimmie Johnson winning the championship.   His second victory came in 2011 at Kansas Speedway while in his second full season with Penske Racing. That win moved him into 21st in points. Again, a feel-good story to weave into the year; one that culminates with Tony Stewart capturing his third title.

Every driver, Down in NASCAR Liked points racing a lot... (okay not so much but work with me here) But Keselowski, Brad Keselowski, Did NOT! Keselowski hated points racing! The NASCAR post-season! Now, please don't ask why, Everyone knows the reason. It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right. It could be, perhaps, that his cars were setup too tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all May have been that he just liked winning most of all. But, Whatever the reason, His head or his cars, He stood there on Chase Eve, ready to take on NASCAR, Staring up from fourth place, with a his Keselowski frown At the vets and past Champions, who had all been around                                                         For he knew every driver both above and below                                                                        Has plotted a strategy, was ready to go. "And they're hanging new bodies!"

So here we are, about to close the book on another NASCAR season. And all I can say is wow. Think about it, we started with a driver smashing into a jet dryer on the track at the Daytona 500 and last week we had a driver running through the garage in a full on sprint. Quite a year. So now this weekend, we will crown the 2012 Sprint Cup Series Champion. It looks like it Brad Keselowski's to lose, he comes into the final race at Homestead with a 20 point lead in the standings. "You know if you go out there and run well, at least from my position, that it all takes care of itself," said Keselowski said.  "With maybe the exception of the last lap or two, I've got a pretty good idea of where I'm at on the racetrack, or I should, and that stuff works its way out if we're in a good position.

Okay I get it, the idea of a NASCAR driver having a cell phone in his car at 200 MPH sends all the wrong messages. I understand why they say no cell phones in the cars. But here's the rub for me, there isn't a person that spend more than 5 minutes around the sport that didn't know that Brad Keselowski had his cell phone in his car. So why wait until the second to the last race of the season to fine him for doing so? Just last month when ESPN asked NASCAR Vice-President Steve O'Donnell about Keselowski and his red flag use of twitter in the Daytona 500 he said: "I think a lot of it was seeing the reaction from race fans.

Clint Bowyer's chance at a NASCAR championship will have to wait another year. The Emporia native appeared to be headed to Homestead, with an outside shot at the title. But instead, an accident caused when Jeff Gordon intentionally wrecked the 15 coming to the white flag, lead to a 28th place finish for Bowyer and officially eliminated him from contention in the chase. "It's crazy, I didn't even need to pass him, I was plenty content riding behind him," said Bowyer. "But he slipped up and I got under him and here he comes back.

Two races to go, three drivers with any kind of chance of winning the Sprint Cup Championship. So obviously the stakes at Phoenix International Raceway, are rising. The stakes are probably the highest for Clint Bowyer, as his margin for error is the smallest. Not only must he run a perfect race at Phoenix, but he also needs a little help in the way of bad luck for both Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski. And Phoenix is not a great track for Bowyer, but then again, neither was Charlotte.