The No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang wasn’t a race-winning machine at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but Brad Keselowski and his crew still put together another championship performance.
Brad spent most of the Drive for the Cure 300 in the Top 10 but could hardly sniff the Top 5 until the final stages of the afternoon. After laying in wait, BK pounced with just 50 laps to go and grabbed a third-place finish, stretching the Double Deuce’s lead to 82 points in the XFINITY Series Owner’s Points standings.
“We probably had a top-five car at best tonight, but the Discount Tire crew executed well and did not give up,” Brad said afterward. “We did a good job to make the most of what we had, caught a break and made strong late-race restarts. It was a championship effort and a big points night for the team.”
Roger Penske held a 61-point lead over the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 car going into the race, and it looked like that lead might diminish. Kyle Busch kept the No. 54 Toyota out in front for 102 laps, but he encountered some trouble late. Busch and another Cup Series regular, Kasey Kahne, were entangled with roughly 50 laps to go, and Busch finished 31st. The No. 60 Jack Roush-owned Ford, driven by driver points leader Chris Buescher, moved into second place in the owner points race.
BK qualified just 13th at the 1.5-mile quad oval, his worst NXS time-trial run since he started 14th in the season opener at Daytona.
He moved into the Top 10 in just eight laps as he radioed to crew chief Greg Erwin that the Discount Tire Double Deuce was loose entering Turn 1 but tight through the center of Charlotte’s turns. Erwin made several chassis adjustments throughout the evening to help dial in the Team Penske machine.
The night’s first run ended with a yellow flag for debris at lap 50, and by then, Brad had the No. 22 up to seventh place. The No. 22 Crew came through with a nice four-tire stop, putting him back out in fifth place for the lap 54 restart.
Passing was difficult at Charlotte, and the No. 22 lacked elite speed, causing Brad to fall back to seventh on the ensuing run. Green-flag pit stops began early around lap 99, when the race leaders, Busch and Erik Jones, each short-pitted after their crews failed to pack their machines full of fuel on the previous stops.
Brad cycled back out to seventh place after pitting at lap 100, and he reported on the following run that the car was bouncing terribly, and that the previous changes hadn’t helped the No. 22’s handling. The race’s second caution came at lap 142, and it allowed for the crew to make some more adjustments, which helped BK make his final push.
BK restarted seventh with 54 laps to go. On this restart, Kes jumped down to the inside line and swiped fifth place from Daniel Suarez. On this restart, trouble also struck for Busch. He slid back initially, and soon thereafter shared contact with Kahne. The battle sent both drivers into the wall, and Brad rocketed past his two Cup rivals into third place in time for the third caution at lap 151.
With 44 laps to go, Brad held on to third place during the final restart, and kept that spot until the checkered flag flew. With that finish, BK extended his streak to 19 straight Top 10 finishes in XFINITY competition.