When the fighting stopped and the last of the wrecked cars had been towed away, Brad Keselowski found himself on the brink of a first Sprint Cup title.
Only he wasn't in a celebratory mood. He entered Sunday's race at Phoenix International Raceway trailing Jimmie John-son by seven points and had the better car all day. And moments after Keselowski raced his way into the lead, a blown tire caused Johnson to crash and take his battered car to the garage.
"I wanted to take the points lead by winning a race and not relying on a failure," Keselowski said.
