Brad Keselowski began the season with a bit of goofiness, posting on Twitter during a red-flag stoppage at the Daytona 500.
He's ending the year with a far more serious pursuit - for his first Sprint Cup championship.
Keselowski is off to a fine start after an impressive victory over Jimmie Johnson on Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway. In the opening race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the 28-year-old Keselowski outlasted Johnson for the first Chase win of his career. Keselowski also took over the lead in the points standings for the first time.
"There's no better place to start than in the lead, right?" Keselowski said. "It feels like Round 1 of a heavyweight title bout. It's a 10-round bout, and Week 1's done. We might have won the round, but didn't by any means knock 'em out."
Keselowski and his No. 2 Dodge got ahead of Johnson after a crucial pit cycle with 35 laps remaining and led the final 26 laps in the 400-mile race. Johnson finished 3.171 seconds behind, and he said he thought Keselowski crossed a restraining line too early when exiting after that pit stop. The incident was reviewed and there was no infraction called.
