AAA TEXAS 500

Brad Keselowski led a track-record 312 laps at Texas Motor Speedway—but the No. 2 Wurth Ford Fusion driver needed to lead 316.

BK dominated all day, but he was passed by Jimmie Johnson with just four laps to go, forcing him to settle for second place in the AAA Texas 500. The Deuce was the fastest car on track for most of the weekend, but Johnson’s No. 48 team got his Chevy dialed in for the final run, and that was enough to swipe the victory from the clutches of the 2 Crew.

However, as usual Brad is focused on the positives of a tremendous day. He once again had elite speed, and with just two races to go, he knows that the heartbreak at Texas hasn’t altered his position much at all: Two victories will still give him his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

“It was a great day for the Wurth Ford Fusion team,” Brad said. “We just came up a bit short. We didn’t have any thing to shrug our shoulders about or feel bad about—the 48 was just a little bit better at the end. I held him off as long as I could, but there was no stopping that much speed. It’s unfortunate, but I’m not going to focus on not winning the race—I’m going to focus on the great things we did today and the knowledge that if we keep running like this, there’s a strong chance we can win the next two races and this championship.”

BK topped the board in the first practice session of the weekend and followed that up with a tremendous performance in qualifying, where was the fastest in all three sessions as he captured his second pole in the last four races, his third of the season and the 11th for his career. However, practice on Saturday was rained out, and as a result none of the teams had the opportunity to run their cars in race trim.

That lack of practice made an impact almost immediately. Brad easily held off Kevin Harvick at the outset, but the opening run didn’t last long. BK’s teammate Joey Logano—likely as a result of the lack of practice—suffered a blown left-rear tire just 11 laps into the race. Kes elected not to pit, and on the ensuing restart, he yielded the lead to Harvick after a great side-by-side battle. Harvick led until another teammate of Brad’s, Ryan Blaney, hit the wall at lap 26, bringing out caution No. 2.

On this first stop, winning the pole paid off for Brad. He pitted from second place but was off in first from the coveted final pit stall. The 2 Crew was tremendous all day long: the Wurth Ford won every race off pit road in Fort Worth.

Crew chief Paul Wolfe also fitted Brad with an adjustment to fix the loose condition in the Deuce. BK used it to fend off Kyle Busch on the following restart. Two more quick cautions followed when Harvick and Tony Stewart had issues at lap 36 and 52. After the fourth yellow flag brought out by Stewart, Kes again roasted Busch on the restart and set off, lapping numerous cars during this long green-flag run before caution No. 5 at lap 100.

Kes reported that he was a bit tight in the center and a bit loose exiting the turns of the 1.5-mile Texas oval. Wolfe made a wedge adjustment to the No. 2 and Brad again retained the lead before another caution at lap 150. The Deuce wasn’t as dominant on this run, forcing Wolfe to go back on his change, and this alteration stuck, as Brad left Harvick in his wake on the ensuing restart. Dale Earnhardt Jr. spun out at lap 167 to bring out caution No. 7, and this time Brad had to take on Johnson, and he during this exchange, he beat the 48 easily to stay in first place.

One more caution broke up the action at lap 197 before a long stretch of green-flag racing. Brad’s lead was up to four seconds before green-flag stops began at lap 253. Kes was one of the later drivers to stop, and his lead over Harvick was cut down to 0.8 seconds. However, the Deuce won out again. His lead was back up to 4.3 seconds over Martin Truex Jr. before he pitted under green once again at lap 298.

As a result of a blown tire Harvick short-pitted and cycled to the lead at lap 298, however it took just one lap for Brad to use his fresh tires to regain the lead from the No. 4. Shortly thereafter, Kes set the track record for laps led at Texas Motor Speedway. If the race had stayed green, Brad would’ve almost certainly cruised to victory—but alas, it didn’t. Debris brought out the yellow flag at lap 311, resetting the field once again.

“There’s nothing you can do about the debris yellows at the end of the race. They’re going to favor some and hurt others. It wasn’t our day for them to favor us,” BK said. “It obviously wouldn’t have hurt if it had gone green, but that’s not how it played out, so you can’t look back.”

Brad pitted from first and after an adjustment was off in first place. This final restart with 18 laps to go was the diciest of the day for Brad. He and Truex put on a spectacular show, going side-by-side for two thrilling trips around the mile-and-a-half. The two shared contact and Brad drove off to fight for the lead, while Truex finished eighth. When the race finished, Kes immediately went over to talk to Truex to make sure there was no misunderstanding about the hard racing late.

“I didn’t know if I came up into him or if he came down into me,” BK said of Truex. “Either way we got together and it probably didn’t help either of us. I just wanted to tell him I hate that happened and I thought he ran a great race.”

Johnson then took Truex’s place batting Brad, and the two former champions engaged in a tug-o-war for several laps. Brad did all he could to hold off the the six-time champion, but the No. 48 was just too fast on that final run. The pair hit lapped traffic with five laps to go, and one lap later, Johnson completed the pass and stole the win.

“The 48 car had mega turn that last run. I couldn’t keep the turn in and I kept pushing real bad. He just kept turning and turning. I did everything I could to hold him off, but he was way faster that run. The 48 team did a helluva job, they found a lot of speed,” BK explained. “But my team did a helluva job. We led 312 laps. We have a lot to be proud of with the Wurth Ford Fusion. We’ll have a great shot at winning next week as well. We really needed to win this one, but I know I gave it my all, and I can feel good about that.”