Brad Keselowski.

Sprint Cup Champion for 2012.

It was close. Or rather, could have been.

The #2 Miller Lite Dodge team and Penske Racing ran a season that was consistent and put them into the position to be on the final podium for the Sprint Cup.

However, there was a hitch. The Lowe’s #48 team of Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Racing. They made a push. They got on top. They had problems. They fell back.

A crash, a mechanical, another mechanical…

The #48 could have but could not. Even with a scenario that on the face seemed unlikely at Homestead Jimmie Johnson was able to race to a point that victory could be snatched back. A strategy that, at one point, had the #48 on the point. However, a speeding penalty on a pit stop caused a re-pit drive that put them down and before any momentum could be recaptured the drivetrain gave out.

This left the #2 Miller Lite Dodge in clean air, so to speak, on the way to the championship for Brad Keselowski and Penske Racing.

The Lowe’s Chevy was off the track and in the garage. Johnson was, at that time, second in points. However, there were enough laps and enough places to let Clint Bowyer and the #15 5-Hour Energy Toyota gain enough to overtake. One point or one-hundred… It did not matter. A pass is a pass and that was all it took for Bowyer to claim the second place in Sprint Cup points.

The race at Homestead-Miami, the NASCAR Sprint Cup season finale, gave little in “edge of the seat” crash-n-burn excitement. However, the race was full of lead changes and strategic moves that kept it moving. Johnson and Keselowski were side by side. Gordon and Bowyer raced without crashing. Kyle Busch, again showing his drive, raced at the front with Martin Truex, Jr.

The race, at the checkers, belonged to Jeff Gordon. Oddly enough, it was last week’s nemesis, Clint Bowyer, that was running in second. Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle filled out the top five.

Brad Keselowski finished 15th. No hurry and no real rush. Johnson was in the garage. Bowyer was in front of the #2 but it did not matter. The Sprint Cup was in Penske hands.

Johnson and the #48 team had some bad luck. Bowyer was walled by Gordon the week before. Dodge is pulling out of NASCAR.

There was a lot of chips that fell into place but there was also a season of racing that put the #2 Miller Lite team in a position to cash in with those chips.

Congratulations, Brad Keselowski. Congratulations, Penske Racing. Congratulations, Miller Lite Racing team. You ran a winning season and all of you earned it.

Go racing!