CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Brad Keselowski recognizes how fortunate he is to be racing at NASCAR's top level, and uses the kind of joke a guy would tell his buddy over a beer as a metaphor for the situation he finds himself in.
In Keselowski's version of the joke, an unemployed man prays every night to win the lottery as a means to end his struggles. As times goes on with no response, he angrily demands an answer only for God to tell him "Try buying a ticket!"
"I'm a lottery winner, this I know," explains Keselowski, "but I've bought a ton of tickets."
And that's how Keselowski has kept his cool so far in this heavyweight title fight with five-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson.
The 28-year-old has yet to flinch in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, which is down to the final two races and realistically only two drivers. Keselowski opened the Chase with a win at Chicago, surrendered it to Johnson the next week at New Hampshire, grabbed it back the next week at Dover and held it three more weeks through Kansas.
Then Johnson snatched it back with a win at Martinsville to take a two-point lead in the standings, and widened the margin to seven points with a second consecutive victory last weekend at Texas. But Keselowski went down swinging - he was the leader on three restarts in the final 19 laps, only coming up short on the hold-your-breath, door-banging final dash to the finish with Johnson.
But Keselowski's back is against the wall headed into Sunday's race at Phoenix International Raceway, where Johnson is a four-time winner and has a 5.3 average finish.
Johnson won the Chase race at Phoenix in his 2007 championship season to shake Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon loose in the title race. Johnson won there again in 2008 and 2009 to turn the season finales into mere formalities, and he finished third in 2010 to climb off the ropes and rally the next week to stop Denny Hamlin from snapping his streak of five consecutive championships.
It's not Keselowski's best track, but he doesn't have much history at Phoenix.
Keselowski is in just his third Sprint Cup season with Penske Racing, and Sunday will be his seventh career start at Phoenix.
So, sure, his numbers aren't pretty with only one career top-five finish - but it was this year, when he finished fifth.
And he's adamant he's not overthinking this, and he won't fall victim to the nerves or stress or pressure that seemed to rattle Hamlin down the stretch in 2010 or Carl Edwards on the final weekend of last year's battle with Tony Stewart.
Keselowski said this week he's had enough highs and lows in life to be able to keep this ride in perspective.
Sprint Cup schedule
(Race winner in parenthesis)
x-non-points race
Feb. 18: x-Budweiser Shootout, Daytona Beach, Fla. (Kyle Busch)
Feb. 23: x-Gatorade Duel 1, Daytona Beach, Fla. (Tony Stewart)
Feb. 23: x-Gatorade Duel 2, Daytona Beach, Fla. (Matt Kenseth)
Feb. 26: Daytona 500, Daytona Beach, Fla. (Matt Kenseth)
March 4: Subway Fresh Fit 500, Avondale, Ariz. (Denny Hamlin)
March 11: Kobalt Tools 400, Las Vegas (Tony Stewart)
March 18: Food City 500, Bristol, Tenn. (Brad Keselowski)
March 25: Auto Club 400, Fontana, Calif. (Tony Stewart)
April 1: Goody's Fast Relief 500, Ridgeway, Va. (Ryan Newman)
April 14: Samsung Mobile 500, Fort Worth, Texas (Greg Biffle)
April 22: STP 400, Kansas City, Kan. (Denny Hamlin)
April 28: Richmond 400, Richmond, Va. (Kyle Busch)
May 6: Aaron's 499, Talladega, Ala. (Brad Keselowski)
May 12: Southern 500, Darlington, S.C. (Jimmie Johnson)
May 19: x-Sprint Showdown, Concord, N.C. (Jimmie Johnson)
May 19: x-Sprint All-Star, Concord, N.C. (Dale Earnhardt Jr.)
May 27: Coca-Cola 600, Concord, N.C. (Kasey Kahne)
June 3: Dover 400, Dover, Del. (Jimmie Johnson)
June 10: Pocono 400, Long Pond, Pa. (Joey Logano)
June 17: Quicken Loans 400, Brooklyn, Mich. (Dale Earnhardt Jr.)
June 24: Toyota/Save Mart 350, Sonoma, Calif. (Clint Bowyer)
June 30: Quaker State 400, Sparta, Ky. (Brad Keselowski)
July 7: Coke Zero 400, Daytona Beach, Fla. (Tony Stewart)
July 15: Lenox Industrial Tools 301, Loudon, N.H. (Kasey Kahne)
July 29: Crown Royal Presents The Curtiss Shaver 400 at The Brickyard, Indianapolis (Jimmie Johnson)
Aug. 5: Pennsylvania 400, Long Pond, Pa. (Jeff Gordon)
Aug. 12: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at The Glen, Watkins Glen, N.Y. (Marcos Ambrose)
Aug. 19: Pure Michigan 400, Brooklyn, Mich. (Greg Biffle)
Aug. 25: Irwin Tools Night Race, Bristol, Tenn. (Denny Hamlin)
Sept. 2: AdvoCare 500, Hampton, Ga. (Denny Hamlin)
Sept. 8: Federated Auto Parts 400, Richmond, Va. (Clint Bowyer)
Sept. 16: GEICO 400, Joliet, Ill. (Brad Keselowski)
Sept. 23: Sylvania 300, Loudon, N.H. (Denny Hamlin)
Sept. 30: AAA 400, Dover, Del. (Brad Keselowski)
Oct. 7: Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500, Talladega, Ala. (Matt Kenseth)
Oct. 13: Bank of America 500, Concord, N.C. (Clint Bowyer)
Oct. 21: Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas City, Kan. (Matt Kenseth)
Oct. 28: TUMS Fast Relief 500, Ridgeway, Va. (Jimmie Johnson)
Nov. 4: AAA Texas 500, Fort Worth, Texas (Jimmie Johnson)
Sunday: Kobalt Tools 500, Avondale, Ariz.
Nov. 18: Ford EcoBoost 400, Homestead, Fla.
Original Print Headline: Keselowski not flinching
POINTS STANDINGS
NASCAR Sprint Cup
1. Jimmie Johnson ..................................2,339
2. Brad Keselowski ..................................2,332
3. Clint Bowyer ........................................ 2,303
4. Kasey Kahne ........................................2,281
5. Matt Kenseth .......................................2,267
6. Jeff Gordon ...........................................2,267
7. Denny Hamlin.....................................2,266
8. Tony Stewart ....................................... 2,259
9. Martin Truex Jr. .................................. 2,259
10. Greg Biffle ............................................ 2,256
11. Kevin Harvick ...................................... 2,238
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr. ............................... 2,188
13. Kyle Busch ............................................1,048
14. Ryan Newman ........................................969
15. Carl Edwards ...........................................965
16. Paul Menard ............................................938
17. Joey Logano..............................................918
18. Marcos Ambrose ...................................892
19. Jeff Burton ...............................................827
20. Jamie McMurray ...................................823
NASCAR Nationwide Series
1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. .............................. 1,170
2. Elliott Sadler .......................................... 1,170
3. Austin Dillon ......................................... 1,149
4. Sam Hornish Jr. ................................... 1,075
5. Michael Annett ....................................1,013
6. Justin Allgaier .......................................1,010
7. Cole Whitt ...............................................945
8. Mike Bliss ................................................ 846
9. Brian Scott ...............................................780
10. Danica Patrick ........................................772
11. Joe Nemechek ........................................762
12. Mike Wallace ..........................................706
13. Jason Bowles...........................................673
14. Jeremy Clements ...................................668
15. Tayler Malsam ....................................... 609
16. Erik Darnell ..............................................542
17. Eric McClure ............................................518
18. Brad Sweet ..............................................442
19. Timmy Hill ...............................................435
20. Johanna Long ..........................................418
Camping World Trucks
1. James Buescher ....................................750
2. Ty Dillon ........................................735
3. Timothy Peters ...................................... 725
4. Parker Kligerman ...................................723
5. Joey Coulter ...........................................707
6. Matt Crafton ..........................................703
7. Nelson Piquet Jr. ...................................669
8. Justin Lofton...........................................640
9. Johnny Sauter ........................................620
10. Miguel Paludo ........................................599
11. Jason White ........................................... 585
12. Cale Gale ................................................550
13. Ron Hornaday Jr. ...................................545
14. Todd Bodine ........................................... 524
15. John Wes Townley................................478
16. Ryan Sieg ...................................463
17. Ross Chastain ........................................457
18. Bryan Silas ..............................................432
19. David Starr ............................................. 395
20. Dakoda Armstrong ..............................370
