Every driver dreams of winning at home, and this weekend, Brad Keselowski has the chance to do so.
As the only wheelman in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series who hails from Michigan, a win in the FireKeepers Casino 400 will put him in elite company, alongside only seven active drivers to win in their home state.
“If we could win Michigan, it would be one of the biggest wins of my career — if not the biggest,” he says on the special track.
Even though Brad hasn’t yet pulled through for that milestone victory at Michigan International Speedway, he’s done everything but. A runner-up result and a pair of third place efforts solidifies him as a serious threat to the competition at the fastest track in NASCAR: a unique D-shaped two-mile superspeedway.
In his 13 MIS starts, not only has BK been around at the finish each time, but 11 of them ended up on the lead lap. The two exempted races, both in 2010, saw the Penske driver a total of four laps down. A track like Michigan is known for demanding every ounce of strength from the motor, the Goodyear Eagles and the driver’s grip strength, but completing 2538 out of 2542 total laps run is a definite shot in the arm.
His first Sprint Cup start in the Rolling Hills came in the second 2009 race, with the 24th place result to only be overshadowed by his win in XFINITY Series competition the day prior.
“Oh my God, I won at home! I’m speechless,” Brad said in the Winner’s Circle following his first of two NXS wins at Michigan. “I can’t believe it. I’m usually terrible here and to win here is a major accomplishment. It’s so cool to win in front of my hometown fans.”
To return to that coveted space this weekend in NASCAR’s top level, Kes will be faced with a new challenge in the form of a greater downforce reduction. NASCAR already reduced downforce with its 2016 package, but Brad has been adamant all season that this would be just the beginning. The stock car auto racing brass listened, introducing a new package for this weekend, shrinking both the rear spoiler, the front splitter, and eliminating aerodynamic advantages like additional skew—and the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion driver feels it can only play to his strong suits.
“I heard the top speeds were really, really fast but the corner speeds were down, which I think should provide a really good platform for side-by-side racing and opening opportunities to pass,” he said. “I think we are all really encouraged by that. It is a huge variable for our teams that they we all work through.”
In last season’s two experimental low-downforce races at Kentucky and Darlington, Brad excelled with a shot at victory in each. The new theoretical downforce kit will be demonstrated this weekend in Michigan, and next month in Kentucky.
“I think it has a tremendous potential to be the future direction for our sport,” he said. “That is really interesting and exciting to me personally. As far as how it is going to play out, you don’t know. It is really unknown. That always seems to make for our best racing when we don’t know what will happen. I think it will be a really good race. The interesting thing is last year we went the opposite way with the rules there and most of the garage felt it was one of the worst races of the year. On the other side, we feel like this will be one of the best races of the year.”
Brad hopes to put on a great race, not only because the track is home to him, but it’s also home to his team owner, Roger Penske. With his Penske Corporation headquartered right outside of Detroit, The Captain’s passion for motorsports in Michigan stretches deep. Not only was Penske responsible for bringing IndyCar back to Detroit’s Belle Isle, but in 1972 he purchased the Michigan International Speedway—something his driver recognizes.
“Roger used to own Michigan International Speedway and it’s a track that he holds dear to his heart,” he said. “It’s my home track. It’s the 50th year for Team Penske. All these things are lining up.”
Kes hopes the stars will stay aligned all weekend. He was eighth in the first practice run of the weekend, and at 35.879 seconds, he wasn’t far off the top pace set by Chase Elliott (35.709 seconds). Those numbers will be put to the test during qualifying at 4:15 ET on Friday on FOX Sports 1. BK’s best start at Michigan came one year ago, when he qualified third. The 2 Crew will then switch over to race trim for two practice sessions at 9 a.m. and Noon ET on Saturday.
Finally, the FireKeepers Casino 400 will air live Sunday on FS1 at 1 p.m. ET.
BKR Trucks Try to Tame Texas
After their two week break, the Camping World Truck Series returns to the track at Texas for the seventh race of the season. Running the Rattlesnake 400, a 250-mile event, it always provides great racing to fans, and gives drivers the chance to use their motors.
Daniel Hemric and his No. 19 Draw-Tite team enter Texas with a load of confidence. Already competing on three 1.5 mile tracks this season, Hemric has Top 10’s in all of them—including two Top 5’s.
This weekend, the NCWTS isn’t paired with its big brothers in NASCAR. Instead, NASCAR’s third series will share the venue with IndyCar. Acknowledging that the truckers will be sharing the track with their open wheeled competitors, he understands that the Firestone rubber will upset NASCAR’s Goodyear treads for the first few laps, presenting a different challenge. But with that in mind, Hemric remains confident. Even though Daniel has just two TMS starts with a best result of ninth, he feels a strong Truck from his Brad Keselowski Racing team can make the difference.
“Texas Motor Speedway is unique because we race there with IndyCar this weekend, and their rubber on the racetrack introduces a new variable in your handling and balance. Texas has a shallow entry, so you really fight the balance on entry to be good on center and exit. We also see falloff in the amount of grip in the tires throughout the run, so you really have to look at the longevity of the tires, not just a fast lap,” Hemric says. “I feel really confident going into this weekend knowing BKR has a solid baseline on both the aero and the setup side.”
His teammate Tyler Reddick looks forward to returning to a well-liked track with his No. 29 Cooper Standard crew. Returning to the site of his second, and most recent Pole award, Reddick credits his success towards the slick racing surface.
“Texas is one of my favorite mile-and-a-half racetracks, based on the surface and how much you can move around there,” he says. “I like tracks where you can move around and find a groove that’s going to help you. Turn 2 has a very flat exit and it’s important to get off that corner and into Turn 3 really well. We must focus on having the balance right on our Cooper Standard Ford F-150 at the start of the race and make sure that we can stay on top of it all night.”
It’s evident that Team BKR did their homework in the two off weekends as in Thursday evening’s first tuning session, both of their trucks landed Top 10 speeds. Tune into FOX Sports 1 at 9 p.m. ET tonight to see if they can hold their speed through the Rattlesnake 400.