Brad Keselowski was out in front once again at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but he just couldn’t close out the season ending win.
BK led a race-high 86 laps and was pacing the field when the final caution of the Ford EcoBoost 400 came with 11 laps to go. However, he couldn’t fend off championship contenders Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick on the final restart, and he settled for a third-place finish.
“We led a lot of laps. The last four races we have run pretty strong, maybe not quite as strong as Phoenix as we wanted but three of the four races we were really strong and we just didn’t have enough to close it at the end,” Brad said. “I was really proud of my team tonight, really happy with what they were able to give me and we were able to take a run at it, we just didn’t quite have enough at the end on that final restart to hold those guys off.”
Kes showed solid speed all weekend and qualified eighth for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season finale. The green flag was postponed by roughly an hour and a half due to rain, and the 2 Crew had to clear a hurdle almost immediately.
The No. 11 car of Denny Hamlin was leaking gear oil on the track, and Brad was one of several drivers to hit fluid and skate up into the wall. The caution came out for the fluid at lap 13, and the 2 Crew sent an extra man out to the pit box to fix the damage, dropping Brad to the rear of the field.
However, the repairs were completed masterfully by Paul Wolfe’s group, and Brad powered his way up to 17th before the competition caution at lap 30. It was an excellent stop by the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford team, which earned Brad four spots during a fast four-tire stop. Two quick cautions followed, and Brad used them to jump to sixth after a lap 54 restart.
Nearly 100 green flag laps followed, and with Brad at the wheel and the 2 Crew putting together two spectacular green-flag pit stops, Brad cycled his way up to third in time for the fifth caution at lap 148. BK swapped between second and third place with Harvick on the next run, pitting from second place at lap 165.
This time, Brad was second off pit road, behind only another member of the championship four, Martin Truex Jr. However, Truex was running on just two fresh tires, and BK easily best him on four new shoes to take the lead at lap 172. No other driver could touch Brad on the long run that followed. Kes pitted under green from first place at lap 216 and quickly cycled right back to a 2.7-second lead over Busch.
As the laps ticked off, Brad worked his way through traffic and lost some time to Kyle Larson, who had usurped Busch for the second position. Larson was closing in on Kes with a dozen laps to go, and an enticing battle was brewing between the No. 2 and the No. 42—until the race’s seventh and final caution flag flew with 11 laps left.
“I was just trying to understand what (the caution) was for,” Wolfe told FOXSports.com while standing on pit road moments after the race ended. “I didn’t ever really see what it was for, but I guess that’s just the way it goes. I figured we obviously had a nice lead there and should have been able to cruise into Victory Lane, but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.”
Brad asked Wolfe his opinion on what lane he should choose for the final restart, and the settled on the inside. BK in first with Kyle Busch to his right, and Harvick behind Busch’s No. 18. However, BK didn’t get a great run off the green flag and was passed by Busch and Harvick. However, Harvick didn’t have anything for Busch, who went on to win the race, and the championship.
“I don’t really know if there was a right one or a wrong one to be honest,” BK said of his lane choice. “We just weren’t fast enough, and I don’t think it would have mattered either way.”