Coming off his fourth consecutive Top 10 finish and second race as runner-up in three weeks, last week at Pocono, Brad Keselowski is stalked by memories of how close he’s been to victory as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series hits the road this weekend to take on the windy course at Watkins Glen International.
That applies not only to his proximity to victory over the last month of the 2015 season, but also to his repeated close calls at the upstate New York road course the the series visits this weekend, where he has come just one position shy of victory three straight times from 2011 to 2013. Those near misses, along with his impressive but unsatisfying string of consistency over the last four Cup Series races have Brad even more motivated entering this Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen.
The Deuce has been the lead car at some point in every race in the last month, showing that the No. 2 crew has cultivated the speed to reach Victory Lane each of the last four weeks. But they’ve come up shy with finishes of sixth, second, 10th, and second. Each of those last four events have also brought unforeseen obstacles as Brad and his crew traded off mistakes on pit road, and those miscues, as well as poor restarts and ill-timed cautions, have kept the Deuce out of the winner’s circle.
With that in mind, the theme for the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion team this weekend at Watkins Glen will be execution.
“Our Miller Lite Ford Fusion has been strong through this summer stretch and I feel as though we’ve had cars capable of winning every weekend,” Brad said. “You’ve got to have speed to win and we have it. After that, you’ve got to execute and we’re right on the brink of putting it all together.”
There’s no better time and place to put it all together than this weekend at Watkins Glen, where Brad has sniffed Victory Lane so many times and even tasted it once, in the NASCAR XFINITY Series back in 2013.
BK will be aiming to kick off his weekend by doing that again on Saturday when he runs in the XFINITY Series Zippo 200. It will mark the sixth time this year that he will be running the XFINITY-Sprint Cup double and he’ll bring an excellent NXS track record to the weekend. BK has finished ninth or better in all six of his NXS starts at WGI over the course of his career. That includes four Top 5s and that win in 2013, which came as a one-two finish for Team Penske.
That NXS success contributes to an overall outstanding résumé for Brad at Watkins Glen, where in 11 career races in NASCAR’s top two series’ he has nine Top 10s, including five in first or second place.
“I remember spending a whole summer sitting on the computer in the office area running Watkins Glen as a video game,” Brad said after his 2013 XFINITY Series win. “I can remember coming here with my dad (in the 1990s), just always having a love affair with this track. There’s something about this track. I have a very deep appreciation for it. It’s been a great race track for me.”
In the Cup Series, the Glen has been a feast or famine venue for Brad. In his first Cup Series run at the track during his rookie season in 2010, he brought the No. 12 car home in 20th. But once he hopped into the Deuce in 2011, he was an immediate contender. In each of the annual visits to Watkins from 2011 to 2013, the Deuce was among the cars in the class of the field and finished just one spot off the lead.
That streak came to a halt last year, when technical issues kept Brad from competing for a win at The Glen. The White Lite was sent to the garage early to remedy some brake issues—a major problem on the 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course. The mid-race setback resulted in a 35th-place finish, his worst ever at WGI. Still Brad has led 39 career laps over his five Cup starts at Watkins Glen and enters this weekend confident last year was merely a speed bump.
One of the keys to both the NXS and NSCS race will be keeping his machine clean, and Brad knows that if he and the 2 Crew can run a relatively error-free race, they’ll be among the front-runners again on Sunday afternoon. And despite all the setbacks and close calls the No. 2 crew and their Ford Fusion have faced lately, Brad is feeling plenty positive about the race ahead.
“Watkins Glen is a great track, and it has a history of really good racing,” Brad said. “It’s also a track that suits my driving style and it is a good place for Team Penske. I’d say I like our chances this weekend.”
The Deuce also has a special look this weekend, with Luke Bryan making his annual appearance on the hood of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, and Brad started off the weekend in that machine looking strong.
He posted the eighth-fastest time in the opening practice, traversing The Glen in 70.324 seconds. His numbers were up a tick in final practice, where he posted a 69.902-second lap, but that was only good for 14th quickest in that session, so there is work to be done for the No. 2 crew.
Cup qualifying is at 1:15 p.m. ET on Saturday, and BK will be eyeing his Top 10 start at the upstate New York road course.
The Cheez-It 355 will go green shortly after 2 p.m. ET on Sunday. and will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network.