Brad Finishes Third in Homestead Season Finale

The final race of the year at Homestead-Miami Speedway was almost a microcosm of the 2014 season for Brad Keselowski.

The No. 2 Miller Lite team qualified well, overcame setbacks and tuned their Ford Fusion to run at the front of the field in crunch time. However, they came up just short of where they ultimately wanted to be and Brad finished third in the Ford EcoBoost 400.

“It was a decent night. Not exceptional but a pretty good night,” Brad said. “We ended up third with some ups and downs and got caught on pit road under a yellow. The team did a great job recovering from that. It was a solid to finish to what has been a great year for us.”

With that result, Brad finished fifth in the final Sprint Cup standings, first among drivers that failed to qualify for the Championship Round. But while BK fell just shy of the championship, as well as a victory at Homestead, he and his 2 Crew have plenty to hang their hat on this season, including a series-high six wins and 17 top fives.

That strong season would’ve had him finishing third in last year’s Chase format and in the previous format to that, based on total points throughout the season. After the season finale, Brad commented on how the new format played out, and tipped his cap to Kevin Harvick for earning the title.

“The fastest car all season won the championship. I think that is right. The most consistent car was probably Jeff (Gordon). He finished sixth in points. We had the most wins and finished fifth,” BK said. “You can argue every case for a championship scenario but the reality is that we all knew what it took to win going in, and Kevin and his team did it.”

Each of the four championship qualifiers—Harvick, Brad’s Penske teammate Joey Logano, Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin—all had shots at the victory in Sunday’s finale. While Harvick headed to Victory Lane, Logano’s chances were dashed by a pit road mishap, Hamlin was undone by late cautions that didn’t mesh with his strategy call, and Newman just didn’t have the speed to match the No. 4.

Meanwhile, and not surprisingly, Kes and Gordon were the top two non-championship challengers for the victory at Homestead.

That dynamic was evident throughout the weekend. Gordon won the pole at the 1.5-mile South Florida oval, while Brad qualified fourth. That marked his 28th Top-10 start in 36 Cup races this year and gave him a fantastic 77.8 percent Top 10 starting rate for the season.

Brad hoped he could use that starting position to run out in front early, but instead fell behind, as the White Lite ran tight through the center and lacked drive exiting turns early in the race. Earlier in the week, crew chief Paul Wolfe cautioned that the changing track conditions would pose an obstacle for the Deuce, and they did. Brad spent much of the race on the fringe of the Top 10, and only worked his way up toward the front as changes made by the 2 Crew began to take effect and match the changing surface as night fell on Homestead.

On top of that, adversity delivered a blow to the team at lap 59. When Brad headed down pit road for his second stop of the day, Brett Moffitt in the No. 66 car wrecked on the backstretch, bringing out a caution that pinned the Deuce a lap down. BK was able to take the wave around and get back on the lead lap, but restarted in 24th.

From there, it was an uphill battle, but it was nothing the No. 2 Crew hadn’t seen throughout the season. Overcoming that roadblock won Brad and Wolfe the Moog Steering and Suspension Problem Solver of the Race award.

On the following run, Brad moved up to 20th before Moffitt crashed once again to bring out another yellow. Another longer run followed, and the Blanco Deuce began to gain strength. Over that stretch, BK passed Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer and others to break back into the Top 10 at lap 100.

The slippery track conditions sent several competitors scraping against Homestead’s outer wall and brought out 13 caution flags for 52 yellow laps.

Brad, however, was able to keep the No. 2 clean and carve his way inside the Top 5 to fourth before the race’s eighth caution at lap 208. Through the next stretch of the race, BK dueled with Gordon, Hamlin and Harvick up front, moving as high as second. Through those battles, he held the Deuce steady in the top four through three more cautions and three more restarts.

When the 11th yellow flag flew at lap 249, teams began to strategize with many drivers looking to end the season on a high note with a win while four jockeyed for positions they hoped would. Some teams elected to stay out and others took just two tires. But Brad and Wolfe called for four fresh Goodyears, sending the Deuce back to P10.

However, that was no issue. On fresh rubber, Brad jumped down to the bottom on the ensuing restart and darted his way back into the top five before caution No. 12 at lap 256. This time, Gordon pitted from the lead and BK moved to third.

On the restart, Kes was on the inside behind Newman with Hamlin on the outside. However, Newman was slow going to green and Brad fell back to fourth behind him, while Harvick made an incredible charge to the lead.

After one last caution flag flew, Harvick held off Newman on the final restart for the win, while Brad used his fresher tires to best Hamlin and take third—his best career finish at HMS.

Brad was happy that his team was able log a solid finish to what was an excellent season overall, and he praised Harvick for making a championship-caliber move when he needed to the most.

“It was a good night. To have another sound finish and bring home the white deuce with a third is not bad,” Brad said. “We certainly wanted to be able to win, and Kevin (Harvick) made a great move on that next-to-last restart and got through traffic and by us for the lead. That was pretty cool to see actually.”

Though he did not acheive the championship goal he and his team set out to, the season was far from a loss for the No. 2 crew. Not only did Brad lead the NSCS with six wins and 17 top fives, but both marked career-highs. He also led a career-high 1,540 laps, all beating out the figures from his 2012 championship season. In addition, won five poles, more than doubling his previous career total of three, and his average start of P7 was a career-best.

As he reflected on the season as a whole, Brad noted that he was very proud of what the No. 2 Crew accomplished in 2014. 

“It was a solid season for everyone here at Team Penske,” he said. “We had six wins, and I think 17 top fives, the most top fives and wins in the series, and that is a lot to be proud of.”