Aug 8th, 2011 by T.C.
You saw it today.
Brad Keselowski pounded a concrete barrier earlier in the week during a test session at Road Atlanta, ended up with a painful avulsion fracture in his left ankle, and somehow went on to win at Pocono. And to think earlier in the week there was talk he may not race at all this weekend. Now, he’s in a very good position to make the Chase.
We’ve seen it many times with stick and ball sports. A guy gets hurt, and then somehow goes on to have the game of his life. Names like Kirk Gibson and Byron Leftwich immediately come to mind. Gibson hit a huge home run in the World Series and could barely run the bases because of sickness and injured legs. And we all remember Leftwich getting carried to the line of scrimmage by his teammates after he broke his shin during a game while at Marshall University. The really tough players know that when they aren’t at their best physically, they need to dig a little deeper. Often times guys rise to the challenge and discover a new level of focus. And that focus leads to unbelievable performances.
What we all witnessed on Sunday at Pocono was a tough competitor doing exactly that. Keselowski, who even spun his car during practice on Friday, was able to overcome the pain of a fractured ankle and beat a lot of really strong drivers for his second win of the season. And in the process, he put himself in position to race in his first Chase. Talk about coming up big in a very difficult situation.
I’ve seen it mentioned on Twitter that maybe Keselowski shouldn’t have raced because of the injury. I understand the argument that you want your fellow competitors to be in tip-top shape when they are racing around you at 200MPH. And I might even buy that argument, except that Brad K. was cleared by doctors. Yes he was injured, but it’s not like he was suffering from a head injury. If he’s up to it, and the doctors say it’s okay, then have at it.
We could be witnessing the creation of NASCAR’s next big name, and if Sunday’s performance didn’t earn Keselowski your respect, then nothing will.
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