Penske Primed For Nationwide Owner’s Title If Kes Can Hold On

The finish line is in sight for Brad Keselowski and the No. 22 Discount Tire team as they close in on the Nationwide Owner’s Points title for Penske Racing.

Just two races remain in the 2013 Nationwide schedule and the 22’s chances of winning that title got a big shot in the arm last week when Brad raced the Double Duece to Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway, his first ever victory at TMS.

“Winning last weekend at Texas was big for us, not just because I finally was able to win there after being so close so many times, but because it propelled us into a nice lead in the owner’s point standings,” Brad said.

The No. 22 crew enters Saturday’s weekend’s Servicemaster 200 at Phoenix International Raceway with a 26-point lead over the No. 54 Joe Gibbs racing team.

However, Brad knows the race to the owner’s points title is far from over and he’ll have to deal with one of the most competitive racers in the sport, Kyle Busch, to capture the crown. BK believes he can draw from his experience holding off Jimmie Johnson to win the Sprint Cup last season to help finish the job for Penske Racing in the Nationwide.

“I’m not at all comfortable and I don’t think you will see me race that way,” Kes said. “When you’re racing the 54 car you can’t be timid and cautious because you know they will be up front. If you look at the Cup battle with me and Jimmie last year, we had a good lead going into Homestead where we only had to finish 15th. We finished 15th after struggling with the car. So we aren’t in the clear yet but I like our chances because we have very fast Ford Mustangs.”

Those fast Mustangs have led BK to six wins so far this season in the Nationwide Series and the Discount Tire Ford has gone to Victory Lane 12 times this season. But neither has done so yet at Phoenix, which sits just outside of the home base of Discount Tire in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Brad has run 13 Nationwide races at Phoenix in his career, including seven in the Discount Tire machine. He’s finished Top 5 at Phoenix eight of his last nine Nationwide runs at Phoenix and six of seven in the Discount Tire No. 22. Most recently, Brad finished 2nd in the Double Deuce at Phoenix on March 2 of this year, a race that was one by none other than Kyle Busch in the No. 54 car.

But coming off a race that saw him finally win at a track that he had long been so close at, Kes has confidence that he can make that happen again this Saturday.

“I absolutely think we can do it again at Phoenix,” Brad said. “I’ve become a big fan of Phoenix over the last few years and I think our Discount Tire Ford will be stout. As far as places I have left to win in the Nationwide Series, this is right at the top of the list because I’d love to be able to share Victory Lane with the Discount Tire employees. Their support is phenomenal and I feel like I owe them one here.”

The weekend began on Friday afternoon with a practice session at Phoenix that saw Brad run 10th fastest. He’ll get one more practice in at 3:30 p.m. ET, which will air on Fox Sports 1. Qualifying is slated for Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. EST on Fox Sports 2, setting up the Servicemaster 200, which will air live at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN2.