After a two-month break, Brad Keselowski makes his return to XFINITY Series on Friday night behind the wheel of the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The Drive for the Cure 300 at Charlotte will mark BK’s first XFINITY Series start since Aug. 8. when he piloted the No. 22 Ford Mustang to a runner-up finish at Watkins Glen International, finishing behind only his teammate Joey Logano.
The Team Penske squad has remained hot since, finishing sixth or better in all but two races over the last two months. That leaves Kes confident as he hops back into the Discount Double Deuce this Friday.
“I’m optimistic about this race,” Brad said. “The Discount Tire team is a front running team and I feel as though we contend for wins every time I am in the Ford Mustang. It ought to be a great race for the fans and it’s nice for the crews to be able to have their families come to the race too.”
The goal as always for the No. 22 team is to win races and gather owner points, and that quest has been going exceptionally well this season. Car owner Roger Penske is well on his way to his third straight XFINITY Series owner’s points title, with the No. 22 team holding a comfortable lead over the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 team. Brad rides a 61-point cushion at the Drive for the Cure 300.
That lead has been built by the contributions of an excellent stable of drivers. After Brad took second at Watkins-Glen, Alex Tagliani followed with an identical finish on the road course at Mid-Ohio. Ryan Blaney hit a road bump the following week, finishing 22nd, but he bounced back with another second-place result at Road America. Joey Logano followed that up with a sixth-place result at Darlington Raceway, and Blaney has held the reigns since then. The 21-year-old finished 35th at Chicagoland Speedway, followed by a win at Kentucky Speedway and a fourth-place finish last week at Dover.
Brad has also played a big part in the strong 2015 season for his team with Top 8 finishes in all six of his XFINITY Series races, including a win of his own at Kentucky. He’s also logged a pair of runner-up finishes, a third, a fifth and his worst XFINITY finish of the season was eighth at California. Dating back to the final race of 2013, he boasts 18 consecutive Top 10 finishes in XFINITY Series competition.
BK also has an outstanding track record at Charlotte. In 15 NXS starts at CMS, he has 11 finishes in the Top 10 and six in the Top 5, including three wins. His first win there came in 2010 during his NXS championship run. His second came in 2012, and he won this event just last season.
Charlotte has brought some ups and downs for Brad in the Sprint Cup Series.
In 12 starts, he has just four Top 10s and two Top 5s. Kes did, however, post one of the most memorable wins of his career at Charlotte in 2013—his only win of a rough season. He finished seventh in Cup competition there earlier this year.
The NXS event will provide some valuable experience for Brad as he continues his Chase for the Sprint Cup this weekend as well. The 1.5-mile quad oval is a key surface for championship hopefuls. Last week, Kes finished 16th at Dover International Speedway to just narrowly advance to the Contender Round of the Chase, and a solid finish at Charlotte will be key to moving on to the Eliminator Round.
Coincidentally, Brad will start Friday night’s XFINITY Series race from the same P13 spot that he’s locked into for Saturday night’s Sprint Cup race. The Double Deuce was faster than that in both of Thursday’s practices, running sixth each time, but couldn’t quite duplicate that speed in Friday afternoon’s qualifying session and fell just short of making the final round. But the No. 22 team is confident they can race to the front from there and continue what has been a stellar season, at Charlotte.
The Drive for the Cure 300 is set to go green shortly after 8 p.m. ET on Friday night and NBC Sports Network will have the broadcast.