Brad Keselowski had a shot to win the GoBowling.com 400 on Saturday night, but a spin late in the race forced him to scramble and pick up the spare.
The No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford team over came a few road bumps to get to within eyeshot of the lead, but with roughly 25 laps to go, he was spun out by an aggressive three-wide move by Denny Hamlin. BK rebounded from that late-race spin, driving from 16th to 10th for his sixth Top 10 finish of the year, and his third straight at Kansas Speedway.
“It was a long night for the Alliance Truck Parts Ford team,” Brad said. “We drove back up to 10th in the last 20 laps from 16th, so it was up and down.”
Starting the 267-lap night race from fifth place, Brad held out inside of the Top 10 when the first caution struck at lap 23 from debris. The 2 Crew had a flawless stop, but on pit exit, a first bit of adversity struck. As he exited his pit box, Kes knocked one of Casey Mears’ tires clean from the service box, sending it bouncing across pit road. No damage was caused to either car, or any pit members, neither physically nor through penalties.
Resuming racing on lap 28, the Alliance Truck Parts Ford was not yet in agreement with the track as it dropped back to 12th spot. A lap 53 caution provided an opportunity to tune the Deuce in a bit, as BK radioed to crew chief Paul Wolfe, describing the status of his car.
“Still plows one-third of the center, chatters the front tires,” Kes radioed. “As the groove moves up, I’m getting a little better. I’m pretty strong up top.”
Going green on lap 61, Kes said that his car was even worse this run. Still, he managed to sail on by Carl Edwards, and Joey Logano up to P8. Telling his pit boss that his car needs additional stability up top, and the ability to turn in the bottom groove, the 2 Crew reacted on the next trip to pit lane.
That stop happened during a lap 103 caution from Paul Menard taking a look at the wall, where the crew gave up a spot, setting Brad up for a P9 restart. From there, the field calmed down for a bit as a longer run ensued. Passing both Ryan Blaney, and Logano once again, BK worked up to seventh prior to a round of green flag stops on lap 156. With a chassis adjustment in the books, the 2 Crew didn’t waste any time at all, spitting their driver back out in the same running order.
Unhappy with the handling of the car right out of pit lane, Brad said that his car was “still chopping the splitter,” when spotter Joey Meier reminded him that it’s due to low air pressure in the tires. This rough handling issue early in runs affected the black and yellow deuce all night long. The longer run was spoiled by a lap 167 debris caution, which displeased the No.2 as his Ford worked best in the long haul.
“We had so much long run speed, but weren’t where we wanted to be on the short runs, so we would kind of lose track position and then gain it back at the end,” BK explained after the race. “We kind of clawed our way up into that fifth to tenth range and stalled out there a couple times.”
With that in mind, the No. 2 team decided not to pit after the fourth caution at lap 167. All the cars ahead of Brad stayed out as well, but all the cars behind him did pit, putting him in a precarious position for the following run. On older tires and still without great track position, he quickly faded to 15th. In the next 40 laps, after tires evened out, Brad had methodically worked his way up to P12, passing AJ Allmendinger, Austin Dillon, and Ryan Newman. During his surge back through the field, a second round of green flag stops ensued, where the 2 Crew’s perfect pit work, along with Brad’s quick in and out lap propelled the Deuce up another two positions. That track position bump came even though they long-pitted, staying out on older tires long enough to lead three laps.
At lap 233 he pitted from 10th, where the 2 Crew made another strategy call. This time, Wolfe’s call for just a two-tire change gave Brad the track position he had lacked all night and put him in position for the win. Kes restarted within striking distance in position four with just 27 laps to go, but his time up front didn’t last long.
The restart was a wild one. Brad showed more short-run strength than he had all night, passing Matt Kenseth to take third place right after the green flag waved. He was working on Kyle Larson for second, but Hamlin came through showing similar aggression and determination. Brad ducked down low just long enough for Hamlin to drive his No. 11 in and make it three-wide in Turn 3. But the move took all the side force off the No. 2, causing it to spin.
“Just got to my
While Brad was fortunate not to have been clobbered by another car while skidding sideways on the track, his Team Penske compatriot wasn’t so lucky. Hamlin, who overdrove the turn making his move, also spun out, sandwiching Larson into the wall, and ultimately leaving Kes’ garage mate, Logano, with nowhere to go, resulting in the end of the night for both the 11 and 22 teams.
This time, PW didn’t have any choices other than a four tire stop. Besides needing a new set of Goodyear Eagles, the spin didn’t result in any other damage, as the 2 Crew ensured this in a lengthy stop. Going green with just under 30 laps remaining, Brad started his charge from 16th place.
The late stages of the race saw BK’s sense of urgency rise as he made a bit of contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for 12th place. Continuing on, he also passed Tony Stewart, and then Carl Edwards on the white flag lap to salvage a Top 10 finish. Even though it wasn’t the race he wanted, a hard fought Top 10 shows what this No. 2 team is made of.
“With about 30 to go we made a great strategy call that got us up to fourth with fresh tires, and it looked like we were going to have a shot to give Kyle (Busch) a run for the race win and kind of got caught up there in turn three battling for second, so that kind of put us in the back,” BK explained.
For Kyle Busch, the race went according to plan as the JGR driver captured the checkers for the first time in his career at Kansas. The reigning Champion only has two more boxes to mark off on his track win sheet—Pocono Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway—both tracks where Keselowski has won.
Logano’s wreck saddled the No. 22 team with a rough 38th place result, but the Team Penske highlight came from the satellite Wood Brothers Racing team, as rookie Ryan Blaney claimed his first Top 5 of the season and placing himself in the Chase grid. The P5 result was the second best of his young career.
Next week the Sprint Cup circuit heads off to Dover, another track where Brad found success at on his 2012 title run. The Drive for Autism AAA 400 will feature Wurth colors back on the No. 2. Catch the action on FOX Sports 1, Sunday May 15 at 1 p.m. ET.