No. 2 Crew Second Again at Dover

When Brad Keselowski kicked off the Chase with a victory at Chicagoland, the phrase “Deja 2” was coined.

On Sunday in the final segment of the Chase’s Challenger round at Dover, Brad felt a different kind of Deja 2.

For the second straight race at the Monster Mile, BK had a victory in his sights, but just like in the spring, when the Deuce ultimately finished second to Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48, Kes was the runner-up at the end of Sunday’s AAA 400 as Jeff Gordon raced to victory at Dover.. Again this weekend, BK had a win in his sights, but just didn’t quite have enough over long runs to best Jeff Gordon for the win at the AAA 400.

The second-place finish wasn’t the win Kes and the No. 2 Wurth Ford Fusion team wanted at The Monster Mile, as the Deuce just didn’t have enough to best Gordon’s No. 24 over long green flag runs, but as the next round of the Chase for the Cup begins, it’s all about looking ahead to the next three-race set.

“We’ve had a really good start,” BK said after his runner-up finish in Dover. “I guess we can’t really complain that much having won a race, a second and a seventh, but it’s hard to look at that. All I could think about is how I wanted to win all three races, and now it’s time to move forward.”

Kes finished the Challenger Round as the series leader, with a four-point lead ahead of Penske teammate Joey Logano—but points have now completely reset for the 12-man Contender Round, putting BK back at the same total as Logano, Kevin Harvick, Johnson, Gordon, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Kasey Kahne.

While nothing from the previous three races will carry over, Brad and the 2 Crew will be able to take with them the approach that led to three successful runs in the first round and try to replicate it for the next trio of nerve-wracking races.

“Three more races, a new start and what we were able to do in these last three, other than getting us to this next round, really means nothing,” Kes said. “We’ve got to keep our head on straight and push forward these next three like we have these last three.”

That mindset worked to near perfection through the first three postseason races. Brad posted two top-five qualifying efforts and on each race day he not only led for a sizable chunk, but had a realistic shot at victory in all three events on his way to finishes in first, seventh and second.

His only poor qualifying result came at Chicagoland Speedway, where qualifying was rained out and the field was set based on a poor practice run. He went on to overcome the P25 starting postion and won the race. Then last week, BK took the pole at New Hampshire and finished seventh despite spinning out late in the race. The No. 2 was strong yet again in qualifying this weekend at Dover, where Brad qualified fourth behind Hamlin, Busch and Harvick.

From there, Kes showed his strong short-run speed, which allowed him to claim second from Busch almost immediately. The Deuce trailed Harvick’s No. 4 through the opening green-flag run, but caught up once the leader reached heavy traffic.

However, just before Kes could attempt to pass Harvick, the race’s first caution flag flew.

Before he came in for his first pit stop of the day, BK reported tight handling through the center of the Monster Mile turns. In response crew chief Paul Wolfe called for a chassis adjustment and four fresh tires, and the 2 Crew had BK right back out in second place. Another caution flag flew shortly after the restart, and on the subsequent green-flag run, Gordon joined the battle between BK and Harvick at the front of the field.

Gordon eventually passed Brad for second, but shortly thereafter, caution No. 3 came out. After getting an air pressure adjustment during his trip down pit road, BK beat Gordon on the restart and reclaimed P2—but the duel between the 2 and the 24 carried on throughout the event. Harvick looked to have the best of both, particularly with clean air at the front of the field, but an issue with his left-front shock allowed Brad to take the lead for the first time at lap 148.

Kes held the top spot for 25 laps until the No. 32 car of J.J. Yeley hit the wall at Lap 171, bringing out another caution. On the subsequent stop, the 2 Crew made another chassis adjustment and had Brad out of the pit box in just 13.5 seconds. But Harvick’s crew, positioned in the final pit stall, got the No. 4 off pit road just ahead of the Deuce, which allowed Harvick to reclaim P1.

Harvick held that lead through a long green-flag run, and Brad came into the pits under green at lap 250, at which point the No. 2 Crew made another track bar adjustment. The Wurth Ford Fusion cycled back to P2 after a 12.8-second trip through the pits. However, after that stop at lap 252, Harvick’s left-front tire blew, giving Kes the lead once again.

After the caution, Brad showed off his outstanding short-run strength, and easily claimed the top spot. He held P1 for 53 laps before the race teetered in Gordon’s direction over the long run. The 24 took the top spot at lap 306 and the race stayed green for the next 94 laps, which left Brad unable to use the Nio. 2’s short-run advantage. Gordon took the checkered flag with Brad 4.352 seconds behind in position No. 2.

“Once the 4 went down, I knew we could compete with the 2. But he made it hard on us there at the end,” Gordon said of Brad. “The 2 was really good on short runs, but we could run him down over the long runs.”

Brad led a total of 78 laps and has now led more than 3,000 laps for his career. Gordon joined Brad and Logano as the only drivers with four wins on the year, but BK remains the only contender with five victories. It was BK’s 16th top-10 finish this season and the 75th for his career. He and Logano, who finished fourth, are tied with a series-leading 13 top fives on the year.

The Deuce finished in the Top 10 in all three of the Challenger Round races and has done so in six of the last seven races, giving the No. 2 crew strong momentum going into Round 2. Unfortunately, momentum is all Brad will be able to carry over into the next round. All 12 remaining drivers are reset at 3,000 points each going into the next three events.

NEXT UP

The Contender Round starts at Kansas Speedway next week, then heads to two NASCAR meccas: Charlotte Motor Speedway and Talladega Speedway to close the round. After the three grueling races, four more drivers will be eliminated from title contention.

As with last round, a win will automatically expedite a driver into the next round.

Brad has won at each of the next three tracks, including two victories at ‘Dega and one at Charlotte in last year’s Chase, but looking ahead, that still gives him little solace. After finishing second at Dover, he broke down what he expects out of the treacherous Contender Round.

According to BK: The always unpredictable restrictor plate race at Talladega is the Wild Card of the three-race slate, Charlotte is the most predictable, and Kansas is a mini-Dega.

“In some ways all the brackets are survival brackets, but that particular bracket is probably more so than the others. At Talladega, it’s going to be a crazy place to finish that bracket out and certainly there will be a lot of guys on the bubble and it’s probably all gonna change on the last lap and the last corner.

But looking at Charlotte and Kansas you can control your destiny more so at Charlotte than any other race track, which is good. We’re putting an emphasis on that race, but then I look at Kansas and say that since that track has been repaved it seems to be very, very sensitive to aerodynamics and getting in a pack and spinning out with a really hard tire, so anything could happen there. It’s almost like a mini-Talladega in that sense, but all in all it’s going to be a real challenge.

If you can survive all three of these brackets and go to Homestead and win this thing, you’ve certainly earned it.”

Round 2 of the Chase will begin Sunday at Kansas, where Brad has one win, two top fives and four top 10s in nine runs. He qualified third there earlier this year on his way to a 13th place finish.

The Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway is set for a 2 p.m. ET start and can be seen on ESPN.

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