Brad Keselowski’s road to the NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway has become a little more complicated. With the stakes already high and the playoff cutline looming around the corner, Keselowski will have an added hurdle of penalties to overcome. 

At the Coke Zero Sugar 400, Keselowski’s No. 6 RFK Racing car failed the mandatory pre-race inspection twice before ultimately passing on the third attempt. However, he was handed a penalty for the two failed attempts, as per the rules set out in NASCAR’s rulebook.

The news broke out after NASCAR reporter Bob Pockrass put out a post about the same via his X account. 

"Brad Keselowski car failed twice in tech today and passed on the third try. Car chief ejected and lose pit selection. His car was the only one that didn't pass on first two tries." Pockrass wrote on his X account. 

As mentioned in the post by Pockrass, Keselowski’s car chief, Jonathan Ellis, has been ejected for the remainder of the weekend. Furthermore, the team also loses the privilege of selecting their own pit stall and will be left with one of the remaining pit stalls. 

Had he not passed the inspection on the third attempt, the No. 6 team could have faced a harsher penalty, as they would have been sent to the back of the grid or could have served a pass-through penalty during the race. 

As he heads into the final race of the season, Keselowski sits 66 points below the chase cutoff line in 18th in the driver standings. With the odds stacked against him, Keselowski did not shy away from addressing the uphill battle to make it to the chase. 

Brad Keselowski speaks about needing 'a miracle' heading into the final race of the regular season

While his teammate Chris Buescher has already locked himself in for the upcoming chase, Brad Keselowski finds himself on the outside looking in, two spots away from the cutoff line. 

While talking to the Associated Press before the race, Keselowski expressed that his chances of entering the postseason now hinge on a stroke of extraordinary luck. 

"My car needs like a miracle," Keselowski told the Associated Press. 

However, he is not the only RFK Racing driver fighting to make it to the chase. His teammate, Ryan Preece, has also been in a battle to climb up the last few spots. As a co-owner of the RFK Racing team, Keselowski also revealed that they have been closely monitoring Preece’s chances of making it to the Chase. 

"We’re paying a lot of attention to that," Keselowski further revealed during the interview.

With the pre-race penalty and the points gap still standing, Keselowski's playoff hopes now rest on how the No. 6 performs under the lights at Daytona. 

Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco