Keselowski is Fun to Watch at Plate Tracks

By ESPN

So here is why moving Talladega to a middle race in the playoffs was so important.

Because you control little of your fate when the pack is clustered together at 200 mph and a driver making a bad decision can wipe out 17 cars, many of which represent playoff drivers.

Talladega is a necessary evil; furthermore it's a gimmick, dumbing down the horsepower of an engine to the point that the lamest horse in the field could still be considered legitimate.

But we do it because the customers enjoy it, they respond with their wallets and a restrictor-plate race will be a fixture of the NASCAR playoffs so long as there is a NASCAR playoffs.

In full disclosure -- it pains me to admit it -- the race is among the most entertaining on the schedule.

Kansas is not gimmicky, rather it represents the purest form of racing ... 900 horsepower, as much speed as your talent will allow on corner entry, two pedaling feet and hands full with driving through the middle and exit of each turn.

This week's 1.5-mile conventional track is a perfect venue to determine who qualifies for the round of eight. Most importantly, most of the 10 drivers not already locked into the next round will control their own destiny.

Kansas means each of the 10 drivers having not secured their spot into the semifinals has a clear idea of what he needs to do.

Because Talladega exists, because it is the second race of three in the second round rather than the third, means Kansas will be much more entertaining.
Special skills, special drivers

During a portion of Sunday's event at Talladega, I thought to myself that the last of the great restrictor-plate drivers will be leaving us with the retirement of Dale Earnhardt Jr. at season's end. Who -- if anyone -- will emerge as a restrictor-plate master?

The uniqueness of this form of NASCAR racing separates the field the same way road course racing does. Some love it, some despise it, most tolerate it.

Those who embrace restrictor-plate racing fare the best. Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jr. are the only three drivers with double-digit restrictor-plate track wins. Gordon has the most with 12.

As I surveyed the field Sunday, The only answer I could come up with to the riddle was Brad Keselowski.

Lo and behold, when the checkered flag flew, he had confirmed the thought.

Keselowski, unlike most he competes against today, drives Talladega with a composed intensity. It was evident in watching his in-car camera Sunday.

His movement with the steering suggested his car was edgy, yet he drove with authority, swapping lanes like a rush-hour taxi driver in Manhattan.

Keselowski is fun to watch at NASCAR's largest track. He pilots with instinct and accuracy, and he is now halfway to tying Gordon's mark.

I believe he'll reach it, and collect a Daytona 500 victory along the way.

I will miss seeing Dale Jr. perform at Daytona and Talladega. He, like his dad before him, made a work of art every time he led the draft around the mammoth facilities.

You depend greatly on your senses to be a successful driver, and the Earnhardts seem born with a sixth sense of knowing how to manage and manipulate air at 200mph.

Having competed against both, and teamed with Gordon, I appreciate more than most how amazing they were at this discipline of driving. I will miss seeing it, but Keselowski will offer some reprieve.