Exactly three months since his last NASCAR XFINITY Series appearance, Brad Keselowski will be back behind the wheel of the Double Deuce on Friday night at one of his best tracks, Kentucky Speedway, looking to add to the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang team’s cushion
BK last ran the No. 22 on April 10th at Texas, but with a trio including Brad, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano taking turns in the Double Deuce, the Discount Tire team has only finished outside the Top 10 twice this year, logging three wins and five Top 5 finishes while grabbing 29-point lead as they look for their third straight owners’ crown. For his part, Kes has finished in the Top 10 in all three of his NXS starts, most recently a runner-up finish in that race at Texas. Now, after a three-month break, the 2010 NXS champion is anxious to jump back into the Discount Tire Double Deuce rotation.
“It has been a while and I am looking forward to racing in both series this weekend,” Brad says. “The Discount Tire program has become one of the most successful operations within Team Penske, which is saying a lot and it is something I take some pride in as I feel as though I’ve played a part in the success of this team.”
Brad’s runner-up finish in his last NXS race was his best of the year so far. He also finished eighth in California and fifth at Daytona, but is still looking for his first victory of the season in the series. Last year, BK made 11 NXS starts and never finished lower than eight, and his success in the series included five wins along the way. He was even better the year prior when he amassed seven wins to lead Team Penske’s No. 22 team to its first Owners Points Championship in 2013. Dating back to his season-ending victory at the conclusion of that campaign he has finished eighth or better in 15 consecutive XFINITY races.
BRAD WILL BE LOOKING TO AVENGE A DISAPPOINTING RUNNER-UP FINISH LAST YEAR AT KENTUCKY.
As he makes his return, he’ll be joined in the XFINITY field by a pair of Sprint Cup Series All-Stars in Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch. That, of course, will make the task of capturing his first victory in the series this season more difficult, but the venue lends heavily to Brad’s hand.
The bumpy Kentucky course is one of BK’s best on the NASCAR circuit. In seven NXS starts at Kentucky Speedway, Brad has finished in the Top 10 all seven times. In fact he’s never finished worse than seventh in the XFINITY Series at Kentucky, including wins in 2011 and 2013. He led 138 laps there last year, but a late pit road speeding penalty spoiled his shot at victory, forcing him to settle for a second place result.
BK has also had some remarkable success at the 1.5-mile Sparta, Ky. tri-oval in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, which has only competed at the track since 2011. In just four Cup Series races at Kentucky, Brad has two wins, including a dominant performance last year, in which he led 199 of 267 laps en route to Victory Lane. With his own outstanding track record, as well as the No. 22 team’s inherent strength, BK likes his chances in Friday night’s Kentucky 300.
“Kentucky is a track which suits our team well, so I am very much looking forward to this race,” Brad said. “Thinking about it, I am fortunate in that I feel like we have a solid shot of winning every time we race in this series.”
Heavy rain in the area rescheduled practice to Thursday evening, where Brad posted the fourth-fastest time in the field. Friday’s qualifying session was also rained out, locking BK into that fourth-place starting spot. He’ll be aiming to win from Row 2 under the lights at Kentucky on Friday night.
Weather permitting, the race is scheduled to go green at 7:45 p.m. ET. The broadcast will begin at 7:30 p.m. on the NBC Sports Network.