"Every loss stings": Brad Keselowski left gutted as Chase Elliott steals the spotlight in wreck-fest Atlanta race

Brad Keselowski came within 0.168 seconds of rewriting his 2025 script on Saturday night. But it was Chase Elliott, not the No. 6 RFK Racing driver, performing burnouts at the EchoPark Speedway under the lights after the checkered flag flew.

The 2025 Quaker State 400 was marked by heartbreak for Keselowski, who walked away empty-handed. His frustration was clear as he watched Elliott, helped by a push from Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman on the final corner, take the win from under his nose.

"(Elliott) He just had the 48 (Bowman) behind him giving him a huge push and nothing I could do to cover that. When we had our cars linked up at RFK, we could do the same thing and we lost that. Then it was just kind of a two-on-one, and fought as hard as I could...It ain't over till it's over. Every loss stings," Keselowski said after the race (via NASCAR)

Brad Keselowski had been on the front foot from the start, starting sixth and surging to a second-place finish in Stage 1. His No. 6 Ford showed promise in traffic and strength in the draft through the race.

But like many, his run was nearly undone by the race's defining moment - the Lap 70 Big One in Turn 3. It wiped out over half the field in a chaotic chain reaction that involved 23 cars. Keselowski sustained steering damage. Yet thanks to a gutsy series of pit-road repairs by the No. 6 crew, he stayed on the lead lap and kept marching forward.

"I think a lot of it was a product of having some bigger wrecks and wiping out a lot of good cars. You didn't have as many cars packed up, so you're getting big runs and just guys able to take advantage of them. Once we got split up from our teammates there, just kind of in a bad spot with no help behind us and two Hendrick cars coming. Just part of it," his crew chief Jeremy Bullins said after the race.

The numbers from Atlanta's Cup race told the entire story. 10 cautions, 68 laps under yellow, and 46 official lead changes. The wrecks included contenders like Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, and Carson Hocevar, as it disrupted the In-Season Challenge bracket.

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Brad Keselowski comes back from the big one at Atlanta only to falter later

Chase Elliott (9) leads Alex Bowman (48) and Brad Keselowski (6) during the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Echo Park Speedway. Source: Getty

Despite the steering issue from the earlier incident, Brad Keselowski returned to the top five by the final stage, making his way to the lead on Lap 184 of the 260-lap race. He led a total of seven times for 46 laps and kept finding his way back to the front.

The 2012 Cup Series winner was poised to snap a 44-race winless streak and RFK Racing's first win of 2025, until Elliott and Bowman formed a late-race tandem that proved too strong for the solo No. 6 Ford. But even with no teammate help at the end, he remained in contention until the last mile.

"They all sting when you don't win them. But yeah, when you're that close, it's going to sting for a little bit," Jeremy Bullins added.

The sting is sharper given the NASCAR playoff picture. There are 12 different winners in the season so far, and Keselowski is 27th in the points with 306 and far away from the cutline, with eight races remaining. He needs a win to qualify for the 2025 postseason with just four sports left.

EchoPark could've been the turning point. Instead, it's another near-miss, another lesson in patience for Brad Keselowski.