Six NASCAR Cup Series playoff stars, one major thing in common

And then there were 12. NASCAR has cut down its Cup Series playoff field with four drivers eliminated from contention after that chaotic race at Bristol last Saturday.

The short track in Tennessee saw what can only be described as tire carnage throughout the 500 laps of action, with 36 lead changes and 14 caution periods before Christopher Bell eventually took the checkered flag.

Now the postseason moves on to the Round of 12, starting this weekend at New Hampshire (Sunday, 2pm ET, USA), and literally half of the remaining field have one major thing in common.

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The Brad Keselowski 'coaching tree'

Six drivers still in contention to become the Cup Series champion in 2025 once drove for Brad Keselowski Racing in the Truck Series. Quite the ‘coaching tree’ for the now 41-year-old NASCAR great.

Ryan Blaney and Penske teammates Joey Logano and Austin Cindric are on that list, along with Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick.

Though Keselowski’s truck operation closed after the 2017 season, his knack for identifying future talent is providing a very lasting legacy.

Of course, he continues to have an impact as a team ownership level, too, given that he is a part time owner of the Cup Series outfit that he drives for, RFK Racing - the K standing for, you guessed it, Keselowski.

Ryan Blaney on the Keselowski effect

Blaney, who won claimed four Truck Series wins for Keselowski between 2012 and 2015, said: “I think it just speaks a lot on Brad’s knowledge of finding drivers that he thinks have potential to have a solid Cup career.

“I’ll never forget when Brad asked me to drive his trucks for him in 2012, the second part of 2012, and eventually at the same time led to the Penske opportunity running some Nationwide (now Xfinity Series) stuff, and led to this today.

“Here we are 13 years later. It’s pretty amazing, honestly, when I sit back and look at it, but I think it speaks a lot to Brad and the opportunities that he gave a lot of great young kids that, hey, you never know where they’re gonna end up. You take a chance on somebody, and it’s pretty cool when it works out, so Brad has a huge part of a lot of our careers, and that was a lot of fun.”

Blaney says he still continued to root for BKR even after his own career had moved on, and lays all the credit for the team’s success at one door.

“I loved my years at BKR. I loved winning races for them and loved the success that they had when I wasn’t driving those trucks anymore - a lot of good drivers have come from there, so that’s all Brad.

“That’s all Brad’s eye for who he wants to give a shot to, and it’s pretty cool that a lot of drivers today that are winning races and in the playoffs came from that stable. It speaks a lot to the people that were there, mainly Brad Keselowski.”

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