Brad, Third Car Join Quest for Nationwide Titles

Penske Racing has a unique opportunity to claim two Nationwide Series championships this Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Brad Keselowski is willing to do anything he can to help accomplish those feats.

This weekend that means taking a supportive role behind the wheel of another third Penske machine for the Nationwide season ending Ford EcoBoost 300.

While teammate Joey Logano pilots the No. 22 Hertz Ford Mustang and races for the owner’s cup, and Sam Hornish Jr. tries to take the No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Ford Mustang to a driver’s championship, BK will don the familiar Discount Tire logo, but will do so for the first time in the No. 48 Ford. It’s all part of an effort to cap a great Nationwide season for Penske with a championship or two.

“This is a very important weekend for Penske Racing and Roger (Penske) asked me to drive a third car,” BK said. “I was happy to do whatever was needed for the good of the team.”

BK will be racing for his 27th career NNS victory. With 26 wins currently to his name, he ranks eighth all-time in the series. Six of those wins have come this season in just 15 NNS starts behind the wheel of the No. 22 Mustang. Of those 15 races, Kes has finished in the top two nine times, helping to build the lead the 22 team carries into Saturday’s race.

Logano and the No. 22 begin the race with a four-point lead in the owner’s standings, just ahead of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54, which will be piloted by fellow Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch. As Brad looks to help Logano best Busch and take that title, he’ll also be lending a hand to Hornish, who is just eight points behind Austin Dillon in the NNS driver point standings.

As the driver who brought Penske Racing its first three NASCAR titles, BK reflected this week on the brief but bountiful history he and Roger Penske share.

“Together, I guess you could say we have won three if you count the Sprint Cup owners, drivers and Nationwide drivers. I think it is somewhat an incomplete feeling to not have that Nationwide owner’s title—at least it is for me. It has been rewarding so far, and it isn’t over, but if we were to win it that would be very rewarding for me personally to be a part of providing that for Roger.”

Though that success has been very special to Brad, he also noted what it would mean for the team to fill that lone empty spot in the Penske Racing trophy room.

“This is about Roger. It is about getting him something that he hasn’t done,” Brad said specifically of the Nationwide Owner’s Points title. “I take a lot of pride in that. When I came to drive for him he didn’t have any NASCAR championships and that was not a point lost on me.”

As Kes looks forward to helping his teammates complete the push for the NNS titles, he’ll do so as a former winner at Homestead. BK took the checkered flag at the southern Florida track in 2011, leading 66 laps along the way.

He has also finished third or better in three of his last four starts at the 1.5-mile oval. That stretch included a third-place finish at the track in 2010, which sealed the 2010 Nationwide Series championship—the first NASCAR title for Penske Racing.

He followed that up with a Sprint Cup coronation at Homestead last season. This weekend, BK hopes to be celebrating in South Beach once again.

“I love racing at Homestead,”Brad said. “We have a lot of good memories from racing there with the 2010 Nationwide championship and last year’s Cup championship celebrations. Hopefully we’ll be celebrating a couple more championships on Saturday evening.”

BK was 11th in the first practice session on Friday morning with Logano and Hornish ahead in 3rd and 4th respectively. The second session saw Logano and Hornish drop to 9th and 10th with BK and the 48 car right behind them in 14th.

Qualifying is on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 2.

Finally, the Ford EcoBoost 300 will go green Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

RELATED ARTICLES

• Penske Racing Ford EcoBoost 300 Preview (Penske Racing, November 13, 2013)