Drama update on Pocono Raceway: Brad Keselowski, who had an impressive drive from 14th on the grid to lead the race by lap 35, made a shocking step that cost him dearly. Just nine laps after his only pit stop, Keselowski was called down pit road from the lead while it was closed. It was a blunder that sent the NASCAR world reeling. PRN was first to take note of this blunder, as they took to X: “Brad Keselowski comes down a closed pit road for service from the race lead. Brad was told that pit road was open.” “Brad Keselowski comes down a closed road from the LEAD! Hocevar almost follows,” Tweeted Jeff Gluck in disbelief. Even William Byron‘s team Radio went into panic mode: “Still closed, still red. The light is red. Holy sh–.”
What made it worse? It was all part of a bait-and-switch move by Carson Hocevar. Running third at the time, Hocevar pretended to enter the pit lane, only to back off at the last second. On the No. 77 radio, his crew exclaimed, “It’s closed. The red light is off. Stay out, stay out, stay out!” to which Hocevar coolly replied, “Yeah, I know. I wanted to beat him. I didn’t want him to realize the mistake.”
Brad Keseloswki comes down a closed pit road for service from the race lead. Brad was told that pit road was open.
— PRN (@PRNlive) June 22, 2025
Even Denny Hamlin, the Stage 1 winner, was part of the mind games, with his radio catching him saying, “Yeah, I know. I just didn’t want to tip him off.” His spotter added, “Copy. You made my heart drop.” In the RFK camp, confusion reigned. Crew chief Jeremy Bullins admitted, “Not sure what happened there. There were a lot of people talking about coming.” Keselowski kept calm on the radio, replying, “10-4. Heads down. Runner ratio. There is a good chance this might come right back to us.”
Despite the blunder, the #6 team rebounded like Keselowski mentioned as he raced his way up front inside the top 5 positions by the end of stage 2. So the veteran driver isn’t out of the contention for the win at Pocono just yet.
This is a developing story.
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