Another Chance To Win

Before he hands off the reins of the Discount Tire Ford Mustang to his teammates, Brad Keselowski has a mission to accomplish.

BK has begun the 2014 season at the front of the pack, finishing in the Top 3 in each of the Sprint Cup and Nationwide races at NASCAR’s first two stops of the season. Now, as both series descend on the Mojave Desert this weekend for races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, BK is seeking to turn all those strong finishes into his first trip down Victory Lane in 2014.

He’ll get his first chance to do that with the No. 22 team in Saturday’s Nationwide Series Boyd Gaming 300.

BK will start that race from the second position on the front row, after narrowly missing his second straight Nationwide pole win during knockout qualifying on Saturday morning in Las Vegas. His time of 29.719 at an average speed of 181.702 during the final round was less than a tenth off the pace set by polesitter Ty Dillon.

All three of Brad’s qualifying runs improved greatly on two uneven practice sessions for the No. 22. Brad was ninth best in the first practice of the weekend on Friday with a top lap of 30.696 but didn’t tick up much in the second session, falling to 13th with a lap of 30.691. BK was near the bubble in the first round of qualifying, after posting the 17th best time (30.556) in the free-for-all. But he made it to the second round, where he posted the fifth best time (29.947). The 22 car improved even more in his final run of the morning to put Kes on the front row to start the race.

Brad said that the improvements from Friday to Saturday and throughout Saturday’s qualifying session give him confidence going into Saturday afternoon’s race, especially the fact that for parts of his top lap on Saturday morning he was even faster than Dillon.

“I think I lost a little bit in 1 & 2. But either way, a really big pickup from the first two sessions and the Penkse guys did a great job,” he said. “That’s something to be proud of. Hopefully we can go win a race from there on this Vegas track.”

What should also give BK some confidence is the success the No. 22 team has had kicking off this season.

Brad and the Discount Tire Ford Mustang enter Saturday’s race at LVMS with some momentum. After finishing second in the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona, BK was third in last week’s rain-shortened Dollar General 200. Lost in the headlines of those excellent results are the technical difficulties he and his team had to overcome in the process. Brad reported significant handling issues with his Ford Mustang last week in Phoenix, which forced him to pit road multiple times. But he still managed a third place finish thanks to great driving and outstanding work by his team. With a smoothly functioning ride, BK thinks he should be able to make a move to the top of the chart in Vegas.

Doing so would accomplish something that Brad has never been able to at the 1.5 mile oval in Nevada, though his results at LVMS haven’t been as bad as they seem. On paper, it might look as though Las Vegas Motor Speedway has gotten the best of Kes. After back-to-back top-five finishes in 2010 and 2011, BK finished 23rd and 37th respectively in 2012 and 2013.

But the No. 22 car ran better than the numbers suggest in each of those four races. Brad was actually in line to win in 2011 before his car blew a front tire on the final lap to give Mark Martin the victory. He also led a total of 45 laps over the most recent two races in Vegas, but a miscommunication about fuel cost him several laps in 2012 and he was running third last year before a front suspension malfunction ended his race early. Kes even holds the track record for fastest lap (29.122 seconds) at LVMS, which he set to win the pole in 2010 when the race was known as Sam’s Town 300. 

“I’ve been so close to winning it three or four years in a row and haven’t quite made it happen,” Brad said. “We don’t quite have as much speed as we would like, but hopefully we’ll have some good fortune on our side.”

Discount Tire Ford crew chief Jeremy Bullins is equally cognizant of the team’s history in Sin City and optimistic about taking the last steps to bridge the gap from third to first.

“No doubt Las Vegas has been a strong track for the No. 22 Discount Tire Mustang,” Bullins said. “The stats books won’t show it because circumstances have hurt our finishes, but we’ve led a lot of laps and I feel like we have a strong intermediate track package. Brad really knows the feel he’s looking for there and hopefully we can get the finish we’re after.”

Brad will be particularly eager to run a solid race this weekend, as he prepares to hand over the keys to Penske’s No. 22 to teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano, who will take turns behind the wheel for the next several races. Thanks to BK’s performances at Daytona and Phoenix, the Discount Tire Ford Mustang currently sits just five points behind the No. 54 of Joe Gibbs Racing in the Nationwide Series Owner’s Points Standings. The trio, with some help from A.J. Allmendinger, captured the 2013 Nationwide Owner’s Championship for Roger Penske and they’re looking to repeat this season. But first, Brad wants to get a win under his belt.

“This Discount Tire team is a special group and one that I feel privileged to be a part of,” he said. “We have had a solid start to our season, but we won’t be happy until we win.”

Live coverage of the Boyd Gaming 300 begins at 4 p.m. on ESPN 2 and the green flag will fly shortly after 4:15 p.m. ET.