Why did Matt Kenseth help Brad Keselowski at Talladega?

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Here was a push from Matt Kenseth that Brad Keselowski actually welcomed.

But that hardly anyone in NASCAR could have anticipated.

Last Saturday, Kenseth put Keselowski in a headlock during a postrace altercation at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Sunday, Kenseth helped put Keselowski in victory lane – and into the next round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup -- at Talladega Superspeedway.

"Do you realize you pushed Brad Keselowski to the win?" third-place finisher Clint Bowyer asked Kenseth after the Geico 500. "Karma is a bitch."

Fate also can be a fickle mistress in the inherently wild confines of the circuit's most unpredictable and chaotic track, which demands strange bedfellows on virtually every lap but produced one of its most unlikely pairings in its 46-year history at the finish of a race.

After a week of incessant highlights featuring the team members of Kenseth and Keselowski engaged in an emotionally charged fracas that many chalked up to pressure of the reformatted Chase, this week's indelible image will be the 1-2 finish that kept both rivals' championship hopes alive.

It capped a Talladega weekend in which they couldn't get away from each other -- the garage stalls of Kenseth's No. 20 Toyota and Keselowski's No. 2 Ford were parked side by side this weekend because they were ranked ninth and 10th in the points standings.

"I think I more just kind of laughed, appreciating the irony," Keselowski said when asked about his reaction to seeing Kenseth as the wingman guiding him to his third win at Talladega. "To me, it was funny how this racing world works out.

"I don't know why it seems like every week where there's either a fight in the garage or a mishap, those two cars and people end up together, whether it was our cars parked together in the garage area, or on the racetrack for the win in the closing laps. I don't know why that happens."

Explaining why Kenseth came to his rival's aid is much simpler: He had no choice.

On the cusp of being eliminated from the Chase, Kenseth needed every possible point in Sunday's race. He easily could have abandoned Keselowski on the last lap by hanging a right – and likely caused both cars to plummet to the rear without drafting help.

"When it comes down to the end of the race at Talladega, it's not like you can be, 'All right, I'm going to do that (or) this,'" he said. "You have to do what's best for your best finish."

His hand effectively was forced twice by Keselowski.

Kenseth had intended to follow Kevin Harvick, who had gathered a ton of steam off the fourth corner of the penultimate lap and seemed well positioned to seize the lead in the middle lane outside Keselowski.

But Keselowski wisely threw a block that forced Harvick to move into the top lane – where Kenseth's car wouldn't run as well. That left two options – stay in the middle without any drafting help, or fall in behind Keselowski, who would help him stay glued to the front.

It wasn't a decision Kenseth arrived at without some deliberation of who would benefit.

"You know who is driving every car," he said. "You know who is leading the race. I saw Kevin get a run on (Keselowski). I was planning on pushing Kevin the whole time. But I just didn't have enough speed. I was going to get freight-trained and just lose spots.

"It's not like, 'I am going to go help that guy and shaft that guy.' It doesn't really necessarily work out like that."

That still didn't preclude wondering about the repercussions from the brouhaha at Charlotte, which cost Keselowski $50,000 and a four-race probation for running into Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart (unintentionally) after the race.

Kenseth was angry about being hit after unbuckling his safety equipment, and his ire hardly had ebbed two days before the Talladega race. He said Friday he hadn't regretted his actions and accused Keselowski of "acting like a little kid using a car as a weapon" at Charlotte.

"I told Brad not to look in the rearview mirror (on the final lap) because we didn't like what happened last weekend," team owner Roger Penske said with a laugh. "I said to look out the windshield."

Just one problem with that strategy, boss.

"You can't drive Talladega without looking in the mirror," Keselowski said.

So as the white flag waved, and Kenseth slid behind Keselowski, some might have been expected mayhem.

"If (Kenseth) could have flipped (Keselowski) to win the race, he probably would have," Bowyer cracked afterward.

But he couldn't, which is why Keselowski "didn't feel uncomfortable in the least bit" entering the final lap.

"It was just a matter for me to kind of manage the (race) and keep an eye ahead. It just so happened to be that Matt was leading his lane, and his lane had the best run at the end. I came down and blocked it. That was enough to seal our fate as a winner (and) seal his fate as second."

What isn't sealed?

The feud between the top two finishers in Sunday's race.

"I'm sure we'll race each other some more," Keselowski said. "Maybe something bad will happen. Maybe it won't."

Did we mention Martinsville Speedway – a track synonymous with fender-banging payback -- opens the next round of the Chase this Sunday?