CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Story by Managing Editor Jacob Seelman for Race Chaser Online — Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images North America photo — Last season, Brad Keselowski’s reign as NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion ended with a whimper as opposed to a bang.

Keselowski finished sixth on the final night of 2013 at Homestead-Miami, basically writing his season off while Jimmie Johnson celebrated in the background and became a six-time Sprint Cup champion.

‘We’ll do better next time’, was the basic feel that onlookers got from the driver of Roger Penske’s famous No. 2 Ford, and it came as a surprise after so many had Keselowski pegged to make the Chase again and contend for a second title.

But despite the let-down of the end of last season, the resolve was there to do better, and boy, has Bad Brad ever done better in 2014.

Keselowski came calling like a bullet train Saturday night in Richmond, rolling to his fourth win of the season in a crushing performance and separating himself from the pack, becoming the only driver to claim four wins during the regular season and breaking out of a five-way tie for the number one seed on the Chase Grid.

“I couldn’t ask for a better way to enter the Chase than to win and take the first seed,” Keselowski said after Saturday night’s Cup race. “We’re ready. We want to run for another Cup. We really feel like this team has it.”

On sheer speed alone, it seems that the Deuce and its driver are set to contend for their second championship ring in three years, but Keselowski also has a teammate to contend with in Joey Logano, who has won three times this season and is tied with powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports triumvirate Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Keselowski also has eleven other drivers on the Chase Grid to think about as well who could easily sneak up and contend in the new format, despite what so far has been a Penske/Hendrick power struggle in 2014, with 17 of the season’s 26 race wins coming from the two teams combined.

“It’s an interesting layout for the next 10 races,” Keselowski said of the upcoming Chase. “All the teams have different strengths and weaknesses. Over the summer stretch there were certainly some tracks in (the Hendrick) wheelhouse. I think we have a lot of tracks coming up that are in ours over the next few weeks. It’s really hard to say. It seems like everybody seems to find another level when it comes time for the Chase. There could be somebody out there sleeping. I think the Gibbs cars have been performing really well, at least at Atlanta and the weeks prior to that. They could certainly be an issue and a threat as well.”

“Over the summer stretch, I thought we were a little bit behind, but boy, did we nail it right here tonight. That’s part of the fun.”

Keselowski endured a summer slump from June to the beginning of August with five finishes outside the top 10 in seven races.

The other two, however? Those were wins at Kentucky and Loudon. The New Hampshire track hosts the second race of the playoffs and the second race of the opening Challenger Round.

But despite the potential for upcoming success and the consistent race weekend speed Keselowski has shown all year long (including four poles and 11 front-row starts to go along with the four wins he has accrued to this point) his team owner — the Captain, Roger Penske — is not ready to ink his driver as the proverbial championship favorite.

“Obviously being the top seed is a tremendous effort for the team and certainly puts us in a great place, but we’re not blind,” said Penske, who hired Keselowski full-time back in 2010. “We know there’s plenty of guys out there that beat us; they’re going to want to. What we have to do is stay on course.”

On course may not be too difficult for Keselowski, who has won at all three of the Challenger Round tracks, including both Chicagoland and Dover during his championship season in 2012. However, though he has confidence, the 30-year-old Michigan native is not ready to cast anything as a given because of the unpredictability of the new Chase format.

“I don’t know. Nobody knows,” Keselowski said. “I do know we have different strengths and weaknesses. As to which ones are the strengths you need to have and which ones are the weaknesses you can get away with or vice versa, time will tell.”

Going into Chicagoland Speedway, Keselowski has all the reason to think he can have a good run. Besides the victory at the Joliet track in 2012, the Penske driver has two top fives and three top 10s for an average finish of 12.6 over the five races he has run at the track. He has an average running position of 13.0, 10th-best among all drivers, and a Career Track Driver Rating of 93.6, eighth-best among all drivers. Not as stellar as his run at Richmond was, but certainly not slouching either.

Is BK the favorite on momentum? Absolutely. Is he the overlying favorite? Perhaps. But instead of focusing on the momentum, look at his attitude. Keselowski has the confidence of a champion because he is one. That’s a fact.

The question is now: Can he do it again?