Midway through the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Brad Keselowski said his team would have to work for every point on a “blue-collar day.”
So that’s exactly what the 2 Crew did. The No. 2 Detroit Genuine Parts Ford team was mired in the back for much of the afternoon but eventually scraped up a ninth-place finish, breaking a two-race spell outside of the Top 10.
“It was a lot of work,” Brad said after the race. “We weren’t as fast as we wanted to be. When we had green-flag pit stops, we seemed to be really fast with the Detroit Genuine Parts Ford. On restarts, on yellow flags, we just kept getting stuck in dirty air and couldn’t move anywhere.”
It was a difficult day for Brad, but he’s left in a decent position for the start of the Contender Round, where only the top eight drivers will advance. Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch all encountered trouble on the day, and BK currently sits eighth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings—just above the Eliminator Round cutoff and six points ahead of ninth-place Ryan Newman.
The race was originally slated to run on Saturday evening, but rain postponed it until Sunday morning. Brad qualified in position No. 13 but the dirty air and restart issues gave him trouble immediately.
Jeb Burton wrecked on the very first lap under the sun at Charlotte. On the ensuing restart, Kes fell back to the 17th position, and it took him 26 laps to move back to 15th before NASCAR threw out the competition caution at lap 26.
After a nice four-tire stop by the 2 Crew, Brad was off pit road three spots up in 12th for the lap 30 restart. However, he couldn’t make it stick. He slid two spots back on the ensuing restart. Under green, he made up some ground, passing Jimmie Johnson up one spot before taking another when Kasey Kahne had a brush with the wall at lap 40.
BK was passed back by Johnson at lap 59, and two laps later, the issue with Kahne arose again. The No. 5 hit the wall and the race’s third caution came out. Brad had reported that the No. 2 was too tight entering and was lacking grip exiting Charlotte’s corners, and so Paul Wolfe’s crew fitted him with an air pressure and wedge adjustment on the stop.
But the tough restarts struck again. He slid back to 16th, where he remained until Dale Jr. hit the wall at lap 72 to bring out caution No. 4. After another round of adjustments and four fresh tires, Brad restarted 14th and radioed to his team some words of inspiration.
“It’s gonna be a blue-collar day,” Brad said. “Let’s keep working boys.”
Brad was right. The black and blue Deuce was swallowed up on the following restart, falling all the way back to the 25th position. BK kept working from there, passing Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Greg Biffle, Paul Menard and Jeff Gordon in succession to take 21st. However soon after, another issue that plagued Brad all day reared its head: the mid-run lull.
BK was passed back by Gordon at lap 96, and he fought his car all the way until the green-flag pit stops came at lap 123. The 2 Crew was outstanding all day, and this time they allowed Brad to gain about five spots. When the pit stops cycled through at lap 135, BK was in 16th.
Midway through the run, Brad spent several laps trying to get around Jamie McMurray and into the Top 15, but the Deuce continued to struggle in dirty air. He ended up losing a spot to Gordon once again as a result.
The fifth caution arose a lap 166, and the 2 Crew came through again. BK pitted from P17 and was off in 14th.
“Doing a helluva job down there,” Brad radioed to his crew. “Keep it up.”
This time, Brad backed his crew up and turned in a tremendous restart. He jumped to the outside line and passed Gordon, Newman, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Austin Dillion up into the Top 10 for the first time all race.
But just when Brad and the Deuce were getting some momentum, the typical Chase race adversity halted them. A Kenseth blown tire brought out a caution at lap 177, and Justin Allgaier blew an engine on the ensuing restart, dropping fluid all over the track. NASCAR workers came and put speedy dry on the mess, but just before the restart, Brad reported over the radio that there was still speedy dry left on the outside line.
He restarted in the Top 10, but he was one of a number of drivers to hit the debris and slide back. Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch were among several drivers to complain about the incident and the track conditions afterward.
Only after Brad fell to 13th did NASCAR throw the eighth caution to finish the cleanup. On the following run, BK swapped positions throughout with Kenseth, Newman, Gordon and Bowyer before pitting under green at lap 230. Another solid stop had Brad back up to the Top 10 when Kenseth hit the wall to bring out the ninth and final caution of the day at lap 240.
On the next run, BK worked his way past Gordon and Johnson to eighth before the mid-run slog saw him lose a spot to Gordon. He made his final stop under green at lap 283, and he cycled right back to ninth.
The final run was a frightening one for Brad. He reported right after the stop that his car was smoking, though it eventually dissipated. He moved up to eighth at lap 300, but the mid-run fade allowed Gordon to take his spot yet again.
Shortly after that, the real fear began. With roughly 20 laps left, BK reported that he had a loose left-rear wheel. Wolfe cautioned his driver and told him to stay on the track unless the issue worsened. Fortunately, Brad managed to keep ahold of ninth and avoid a catastrophe.
“I thought we had a fast car, and if we got up front, maybe we could’ve stayed up front,” BK said afterward. “But that wasn’t the case today. It was a good effort to keep the wheels on it today and make the most of it so we’re not in bad shape for the next two races.”
Meanwhile, Brad’s Team Penske teammate, Joey Logano, dominated the afternoon, leading 227 laps en route to victory.e
POST-CHARLOTTE CHASE STANDINGS
- Joey Logano – 3,048 (Winner)
- Kevin Harvick – 3,042
- Martin Truex Jr. – 3,041
- Denny Hamlin – 3,040
- Kurt Busch – 3,039
- Carl Edwards – 3,039
- Jeff Gordon – 3,037
- Brad Keselowski – 3,035 (+6)
— ELIMINATOR ROUND CUTOFF —
- Ryan Newman – 3,029
- Kyle Busch – 3,025
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 3,016
- Matt Kenseth – 3,003
NEXT UP
The next race of the Chase is the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.
In Brad’s last race at Kansas Speedway, earlier this year, he finished seventh. Kes’ only victory at Kansas came in 2011. He has started sixth or better in his last four times racing at Kansas Speedway. As he said on NBC Sports Network after the race, the 2 Crew will need another solid day in Kansas.
“We need to have another solid day at Kansas or we’re really going to sweat Talladega,” Kes said. “A couple of Chase guys had bad luck, and that could happen to us too. We have to stay on our toes.”
The race will be broadcast on NBC and is set to go off Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET.