Throughout his lengthy NASCAR Cup Series career, Brad Keselowski has never been one to sugarcoat his feelings.
Saturday night’s race at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta) was no exception.
Despite having one of the best cars in the field, Keselowski ultimately came up short in his bid to score his first win of the 2025 season.
The RFK Racing driver/co-owner consequently remains a longshot to qualify for the playoffs.
How Close Was Brad Keselowski To Winning At Atlanta?
Polesitter Joey Logano led the most laps (51) at EchoPark Speedway. However, Brad Keselowski (46) ended up second in laps spent out front.
Keselowski was in command of the race for the seventh time and took the white flag running P1 before Chase Elliott — with drafting help from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman — roared past in the middle of turns 1 and 2 on the final lap.
Then, any chance Keselowski had of regaining the top spot from Elliott vanished when Bowman dove to his inside coming down the backstretch.
Bowman’s attempt to pass Keselowski for second allowed Elliott to pull away, which Elliott easily did.
“They were able to work together really well and kind of double up on me at the end,” said Keselowski, who managed to nip Bowman at the checkered flag for the runner-up finishing position. “There was nothing I could do.”
CHASE ELLIOTT WINS IN ATLANTA! pic.twitter.com/EQfNV9JuNR
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 29, 2025
Why Did Finishing Second Hurt So Much For Veteran Driver?
Shut out of Victory Lane in 17 starts this year before Atlanta, Brad Keselowski needed a win to lock up a spot in the playoffs. In fact, a win is pretty much the 2012 Cup Series champion’s only ticket in. That’s because 2025 has been mostly a struggle for Keselowski, whose No. 6 Ford has now recorded just four top-10 finishes — including only two top-fives — in 18 starts.
Keselowski is mired so deep in the standings that, with eight races left until the playoff field is set, he can’t realistically expect to make the playoffs on the merits of points.
So, it’s basically win or bust for the veteran driver. Which brings us back to Saturday night in Atlanta.
Had Keselowski held on for the victory, he would be guaranteed a playoff berth. But by virtue of not winning, he will almost certainly need to capture one of the remaining regular season races to make the 16-driver cut.
While that’s not impossible, the odds are overwhelmingly not in Keselowski’s favor, based simply on his results from 2025 so far. So, Saturday night’s race in Atlanta was very much an opportunity missed for Keselowski.
And he knows it — even if he denied being upset about the playoff implications of his defeat.
“I don’t think about that,” Keselowski said immediately after the race. “I just want to win.”
Keselowski offered an even shorter response when asked whether the outcome stung him.
“Every loss stings,” he said.
Especially a loss like the one he endured on Saturday night.
