Brad Goes for Back-to-Back at Bristol

Now that Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion have gotten a taste of Victory Lane in 2014, and essentially secured a spot in the Chase by doing so, the No. 2 team hits the short track at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend with confidence that they can make a repeat visit to the Winner’s Circle this Sunday.

BK’s dramatic final lap pass on Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the Kobalt Tools 400 last weekend, continued a brilliant start to the season for the Miller Lite Ford team, piggybacking on third-place finishes in each of the first two races of the year to put Kes just one point behind Earnhardt for the lead in the series standings.

The early win and run of three straight top-five results, along with consecutive front row qualifying efforts, make this the best start yet to a Sprint Cup season for Brad and his prospects to extend that run are bright as the season shifts to a track where he’s had success.

Entering this season Brad had a combined zero wins at Daytona, Phoenix and Las Vegas but Kes has been to Victory Lane at Bristol, where he won back-to-back Sprint Cup Series visits in the fall of 2011 and spring of 2012. Last season he finished the spring race at Bristol in third place and he’s hoping to continue his success in Thunder Valley this weekend.

“While I enjoy racing everywhere we go, Bristol is one of those places that standout for most drivers,” Brad said. “I have to say that I like the idea of getting our Ford Fusion into Victory Lane this Sunday.”

Brad’s weekend at Bristol is already off to a hot start. BK had the top lap time for much of Friday’s first practice and wound up finishing sixth-best with a lap of 14.851 seconds at an average speed of 129.203 miles per hour.

Qualifying is slated for 4:30 p.m ET on Friday as NASCAR switches back to the short track qualifying structure that the No. 2 team dominated at Phoenix.

For Brad and Team Penske it has been all about preparation this year with the new Chase and qualifying formats, as well as a new rules packages to adapt to.

“This No. 2 Miller Lite team has been diligently preparing for this season since late last season, and we’ve also been intensely focused on each event,” Brad said. “Our recent successes demonstrate that we are making the effort in the proper areas and that we are executing on race day.”

Rewarding individual race wins is at the heart of the new Chase format, something the No. 2 team can now bask in after a fruitful trip to Las Vegas. Crew chief Paul Wolfe understands this point very well and noted that although some of the stress to win has been lifted, the Miller Lite Ford team is even more motivated to continue their winning ways.

“After last weekend’s win at Las Vegas we feel as though a little of the pressure to win has been removed,” he said. “But the desire to win has been increased.”

The No. 2 crew now has the freedom to take risks, much like Earnhardt Jr. did with his big fuel gamble at Las Vegas because he had the Daytona victory in his back pocket.

“The weekend at Las Vegas gives us momentum and freedom to race for wins moving forward,” Brad noted.

But BK, Wolfe and their team will be hard-pressed to take bigger risks going forward than they already have this season. Last week, the pair decided not to pit under caution with the rest of the field late in the race in Vegas, which ended up paying off and allowing Brad to pass Earnhardt on the final lap. Wolfe refuses to shy away from bold moves, and that certainly won’t change after last week’s win.

“As we saw last weekend, the thing that has made the No. 2 Miller Lite team successful over the last few years is being aggressive, and we’re going to be aggressive this year,” Wolfe said. “We’re just getting started.”

Brad plans to carry on this early-season success, further buffered by a Nationwide win last weekend as part of a Las Vegas sweep. But he’ll only be behind the wheel of the No. 2 Ford Fusion this weekend, handing over the keys to the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford in the Nationwide Series to teammate Ryan Blaney.

Brad won’t get as much time on the Bristol surface as he had while running a Nationwide car the last three weeke, but if there’s one track Team Penske knows well, it’s Bristol. Penske has 10 Sprint Cup victories at the World’s Fastest Half Mile, more than at any other location, which bodes well for Kes. And as BK’s practice runs on Friday afternoon exemplified, the No. 2 continues to be one of the fastest cars on the track, which Wolfe believes will allow Brad to work his short-track magic at Bristol. 

“Brad is remarkably adept at Bristol,” Wolfe said, “and our

[Team Penkse] Ford Fusions have had the speed required to run up front.”

After Brad qualifies on Friday at 4:30 ET on Fox Sports 1, he’ll head off to the Bristol Motor Speedway Hospitality village for an appearance on behalf of Miller Lite at 6 p.m. ET. BK will also be making two Sunday morning appearances around Bristol, stopping at the Earhart campground at 10:10 a.m. and then the Ford display in the Fan Zone at 10:30 a.m.

When he’s not running around Bristol, BK and his team will have two more chances to tune-up for the race on Saturday. The first comes in the form of an early morning practice session at 9 a.m. on Fox Sports 1. That will be followed by  “Happy Hour ‘Final’ practice at 12 p.m. ET. on Fox Sports 2.

Coverage of the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway begins at 12:30 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX with the green flag slated to fly shortly after 1 p.m. ET.