Brad Keselowski: Why He Is a Legit NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase Contender in 2011

At this point last season, Brad Keselowski had zero top-10 finishes. After shocking the racing world with a win at Talladega in April 2009 (we all remember that race for the infamous Carl Edwards crash), the Michigander was the top prospect in the sport and eventually landed at Penske Racing.

A year of meddling in upper-tier equipment would be enough for some teams to cut a driver loose; instead, Roger Penske placed "Special K" in his iconic No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge for the 2011 season. Turns out, it was a wise move, as Keselowski—with help from young crew chief Paul Wolfe—seems like a complete lock to make the Chase with three wins this season.

Here's why Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s former protege is now a legitimate contender for the Sprint Cup championship.

The New Chase Wild Card System

The new Sprint Cup points system is undoubtedly one of the reasons why Keselowski will be a Chaser come September and a contender deep into the 10-race playoff.

With the new Chase awarding wild-card spots to the top two drivers with a win running 11th through 20th in points, the "Blue Deuce" has reached Victory Lane three times, one heck of an insurance policy. Of course, this could all be irrelevant if he reaches the top 10 in points before Chicagoland in a few weeks.

For now, it appears as if "Special K" could make the new Chase system a big success. 

Paul Wolfe

It wasn't that long ago when Paul Wolfe was a developmental driver for Evernham Motorsports, driving a partial schedule in the Nationwide Series in hopes of turning heads and eventually getting a full-time ride in the Sprint Cup Series.

Obviously, that path didn't work out for the Milford, N.Y. native, but he has asserted himself as the best young crew chief in the Sprint Cup garage. 

Wolfe was Keselowski's crew chief when the driver won the Nationwide Series title last season, eventually allowing him to replace Jay Guy on top of the pit box for the Sprint Cup side of things.

In fact, Wolfe could be considered directly responsible for the No. 2 Dodge's success, guiding Keselowski to a fuel-mileage win at Kansas Speedway last June. It takes two to tango, so Wolfe is clearly the right man for the job.

It's almost like he's Chad Knaus or something, helping bring camaraderie to one of the younger teams on the Sprint Cup circuit. (Not only that, it seems as if the No. 22 team and Kurt Busch is starting to take notice as well.)

Respect from Fellow Drivers

It wasn't that long when Keselowski was seemingly in a feud with half of NASCAR, especially with highly publicized disputes with Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.

Fast-forward to the present-day, and he is suddenly one of the most respected drivers on the circuit. Just ask Jeff Gordon, who provided this great quote to USA Today's Nate Ryan:

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"I don't know what more to say about Brad. You put them in position at the end of the race, and they're going to pull off the wins. They're as strong of a team that there is right now. He's proved to all of us he's tougher than we thought he was. We always knew he was a good race car driver, but he's stepping it up. So you've got to give him a lot of credit."

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Sounds like the ultimate endorsement from one of the all-time greats.

Maturity

Brash young drivers—like Keselowski—often find themselves embroiled in the middle of feuds because of poor decisions solely caused by a lack of maturity. Who can forget the "Kyle Busch is an ass" comment made by "Special K" last August at Bristol? Better yet, who can forget when Busch promptly buried Keselowski in post-race interviews?

Keselowski hasn't forgotten that, motivating himself to become known for his on-track ability, as he told SBNation's Jeff Gluck:

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"I want to have a fan base who likes me for who I am and what I do performance-wise, but I understand there's more to this sport than that. And I don't try to hide from that. Certainly as I continue to perform better and better, I would like to think I would get more recognition for performance. That's a large goal of mine."

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It seems as if Keselowski is starting to calm down and "get it."