November 15, 2012 6:53 PM



If you had to choose one word to describe Penske Racing’s Brad Keselowski, it might be consistent.

Keselowski is the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit. This season he has entered all 35 scheduled races and has earned 23 Top 10 finishes.

If that isn’t consistent, I don’t know what is.

On Sunday, as Brad sits in first place with a comfortable 20-point lead over his nearest competitor, Jimmie Johnson, he will compete in the final Chase for the Sprint Cup race of the season. Johnson is the only one in the field who can catch him – the others have all been mathematically eliminated – so it comes down to one final push to finish what he started way back in February. And, it also fulfills his goal of bringing home a winner’s trophy to team owner Roger Penske.

“To win a championship for Roger would certainly be a huge accomplishment considering everything he's been through in American motorsports and beyond,” Keselowski says. “You look at his legacy in the sport and you can't help but feel that he's been a little bit slighted on the NASCAR side. We'd like to get that job done, and I think we have the opportunity to do it. I think we have the team and car, and it's just a matter of putting all the pieces together.”

Before the 2012 NASCAR season began, it was announced that Penske Racing would end its association with SRT Motorsports and Dodge and move to Ford Racing. Despite this disappointment, the Dodge personnel never let down their guard, never threw in the towel. In fact, they seemed to redouble their efforts to make the two Dodge Chargers running on the Sprint Cup circuit (as well as the two Dodge Challengers taking part in NASCAR Nationwide competition) race at the highest levels of precision.

“Dodge has done a great job supporting us,” says Paul Wolfe, Crew Chief, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge. “We've been able to accomplish a lot (with them). For myself, the three years that I've been here, we've accomplished a lot and I know that the relationship with Penske goes a lot farther than that. In a lot of ways, it's not a bad thing to be the only Dodge team. We definitely get all the attention and I think there's a lot to be said for that."

Now it’s up to Brad Keselowski to bring the hammer down and complete a season in which he charted five victories and earned a ton of respect from his fellow drivers.

It’s time to seal the deal.