March 29, 2024

France felt Keselowski’s move at Texas was fine

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR chairman Brian France, who for at least two years has pushed for racing to become more of a ‘contact sport,’ believes Brad Keselowski did nothing wrong in the way he raced Jeff Gordon in the closing laps at Texas Motor Speedway.

Keselowski tried to wedge his car into a gap between Gordon and Jimmie Johnson on a late restart in an attempt by Keselowski to win the race. It caused contact between Keselowski and Gordon, who got a flat tire and spun after the incident. Gordon went from racing for the win to a 29th-place finish and confronted Keselowski after the race in a scene that quickly escalated into a brawl between teams.

France felt Keselowski did exactly what NASCAR expects from drivers racing for a win.

“He did exactly what I would expect any driver that has that much on the line to look at an opportunity, shoot a gap is what he did,” France said on SiriusXM Radio. “It was unfortunate that they touched and that Gordon’s tire got cut and all the things that happened for him. Very unfortunate. (But) late in the race, things are going to happen when guys are legitimately trying to win races or compete at a high level.”

Both drivers are trying for one of four berths in the Nov. 16 championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

A win in any of the three races of the third round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship earns a driver an automatic berth into the finale, and both Gordon and Keselowski were racing for that spot.