The speed that put Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion on the pole escaped him on race day at Kansas Speedway, but BK is still in position to survive the Contender Round of NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup.
BK led the first 28 laps of the Hollywood Casino 400, and throughout the day he rebounded from a scrape with the wall to pass Jeff Gordon at the start/finish line to steal a second consecutive ninth-place finish.
“It was a long day,” Brad said. “Kind of like last week, we weren’t very fast. Everyone on the Miller Lite Ford team and everyone at Team Penske worked really hard to get through it. We just fought and didn’t shoot ourselves in the foot any more than me driving the car, but came out with a Top 10.”
Brad captured his 10th career pole, his second of the season and his first in Kansas City to start the weekend. He paced the field through the opening stage but was passed by both Kevin Harvick and his teammate Joey Logano at lap 29, just before a J.J. Yeley wreck brought out the day’s first caution.
While BK started in first place, he didn’t get his choice of the best pit stall. The week prior, both he and Tony Stewart received their fourth written warnings from NASCAR, and as a result, the two were last to select a spot in the pits. That poor positioning hurt him on the first stop. He pitted from third place but was off in sixth. While it hurt his standing early, BK said after the race that the pit stall didn’t alter the outcome.
“It was a good storyline, but we weren’t fast enough to hold the first through third or fourth positions for it to really make a difference,” Kes said.
On the ensuing restart, he drove his No. 2 back up to fifth, but was passed by Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson to fade back to seventh by lap 62. Two laps later, Tony Stewart spun out, bringing about the second caution.
Some strategy from Paul Wolfe put the White Lite back in solid positioning. The 2 Crew changed just right-side tires, vaulting Kes from seventh to second. Unfortunately, the strategy call didn’t stick. Brad battled a rough handling car on the next run, at one point telling his team that he was just doing what he could to keep the car off the wall, and he fell back to ninth place.
Brad took two tires during the next caution and restarted second at lap 62. He was passed by multiple cars out of the restart and slid back to sixth at lap 73 as he was passed by Logano. Kes fell down to ninth by lap 98, suspecting that he might have a flat right-rear tire.
“There just ain’t any groove or tactic that’s working,” Brad radioed to his team. “I’m tight in 1 & 2 and snapping loose off. I’m deathly loose in the center of 3 & 4 and loose off there.”
As BK detailed his car’s poor handling to his crew chief, a much-needed caution came when Kyle Larson lost control at lap 109. BK pitted from ninth, took four fresh tires and an adjustment and restarted in 10th. Still fighting with his car, he fell back as far as 14th after the restart but eventually settled in. When Austin Dillon wrecked to bring out the fourth caution at lap 155, Brad was back up to 12th.
Just before this stop, BK reported to Wolfe that his car was much better entering Kansas’ corners, but it was still tight in the center and snapping loose on exit. The following run was a short one. Clint Bowyer had a hard wreck just 10 laps into the run. As a result the leaders stayed out, and Brad was the first to pit from position 11.
On the ensuing run, Brad was digging to find any speed he could. After seeing his Team Penske partner Logano running the high line with success while battling for the lead, BK tried his hand at running up high. However, at lap 188, he got loose and scuffed the wall, dropping him to 14th.
However, the damage was minimal, and the White Lite inexplicably became better after the incident. He also got some help when to Chasers had issues during green-flag pit stops at lap 216. Harvick was penalized for pulling his gas tank out of his pit box, and Martin Truex Jr. was penalized for an uncontrolled tire.
With around 40 laps remaining, BK cycled out to position 10 but was passed by Carl Edwards back to 11th with 31 laps to go. Two more quick cautions followed. Brad had passed Ryan Newman to eighth place before Matt Kenseth spun out while battling with Logano for the lead at lap 262.
BK pitted from eighth hoping that fresh tires would help him on the green-white-checkered finish. He restarted in 12th place, and he had to battle his way back up. He passed Newman again for position 10 and right at the checkered flag, he edged Gordon by a matter of inches to log a ninth-place finish for the second week in a row.
“We want more than Top 10s,” BK said. “We need to be winning races. We know that. But we’re not in the worst of positions going into Talladega, and we need to have another solid day there.”
Logano picked up his second win, making him still the only Chase driver who is truly safe for the final race of the Contender Round next week at Talladega Superspeedway. Brad is locked in a tie for fifth place, as the always-unpredictable restrictor plate race looms.
POST-KANSAS CHASE STANDINGS
- Joey Logano – 3,095 (2x Winner)
- Denny Hamlin – 3,082
- Kurt Busch – 3,077
- Carl Edwards – 3,076
- Kevin Harvick – 3,071
- Jeff Gordon – 3,071
- Brad Keselowski – 3,071 (+7)
- Martin Truex Jr. – (3,070)
— ELIMINATOR ROUND CUTOFF —
- Kyle Busch – 3,064
- Ryan Newman – 3,062
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 3,039
- Matt Kenseth – 3,035
NEXT UP
The Contender Round concludes Sunday at Talladega in the CampingWorld.com 500. The restrictor plate event gives all 43 drivers a shot at victory, but it also gives all 43 a chance to see their day end early in the track’s notoriously large crashes.
Brad has finished first three times at Talladega. Although he has three wins at the track, he has only finished in the Top 10 once out of the last five times he’s raced at Talladega. Kes finished 22nd when he raced at Talladega earlier this year. He will likely need a stronger finish this time around to advance to the next round.
At the same time, he’s in much better position than he was a year ago. He went to Dega last October in a precarious position: Only a win would allow him to advance. But in one of the most thrilling and significant victories of his career, he made a last-lap pass of Newman to win and advance to the Round of 8.
“There are quite a few drivers who can win at Talladega, and I think we’re one of them,” BK said. “But we don’t have to win. We just have to have a really good day. That’s something to remember.”
Green flag is set to fly around 2:30 p.m. ET, and the race will air on the NBC Sports Network.