Brad Keselowski was as dominant as ever Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, well on his way to a third consecutive restrictor-plate track win and an automatic bid into the Chase for the Sprint Cup’s Round of 8, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
BK led a race-high 90 laps in the Hellmann’s 500, but a piece of debris led to an engine failure for the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion with less than 50 laps to go. As a result, the seemingly inevitable win disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and a 38th-place finish ended Brad’s 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship hopes.
“We had a really fast Miller Lite Ford, and I’m really proud of the effort,” Brad said. “We came here to win and we were doing what we needed to do to win, and it just didn’t play out. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
The weekend started off very promising for the 2 Crew. BK was incredibly pleased with his car in practice, and he qualified second. Brad snatched the lead away from Martin Truex Jr. on the first lap, and he ran up front all day long, right where he wanted to be.
Kes held the lead for the first 12 laps before trading the spot with Truex, but Brad took it back just two laps later. It was a common theme throughout the day: Whenever BK relinquished the top spot, he took it right back. He led nine times on the day, and twice as many laps as any other driver. Race winner Joey Logano was second, leading the final 45 laps.
All the time out front caused Brad to pick up debris several times throughout the day, first around lap 20. That forced him to drift back to third place, using Chase Elliott and Greg Biffle to remove the trash. But once again, he maneuvered his way through the drafting lines right back to the lead at lap 32, holding it until making his first pit stop of the day under green at lap 38. The Team Penske crew put a set of Goodyear Eagles on and filled the tank with fuel in 13.3 seconds, holding the top spot when the field cycled through at lap 41.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. briefly swiped the lead from Brad just before the first yellow flag of the day at lap 42. Truex saw the motor of his No. 78 let go, ending his bid for a title. Restarting P2 on lap 48, Kes reclaimed the lead from Stenhouse Jr. and held it until being shuffled back to seventh on lap 63. A single-file line broke out, but Brad wasn’t complacent. The No. 2 Ford driver made some bold-but-brilliant moves to step out of line and side-draft his way up to the front.
Methodically picking off competitors one at a time, Brad moved to second behind Chase Elliott at lap 78, and just two laps later, he passed the rookie to reclaim the lead. On that same lap, he guided the leaders down pit road. The 13.5-second stop for a fresh set of rubber and a fill of Sunoco racing fuel allowed him to cycle out second behind Kurt Busch. Clearing the No. 41 a few laps later, the Michigan native once again controlled the pace for a 20 lap stretch.
On lap 111, the engine temperature rose above the comfortable level as a piece of trash adhered to the nose of his Ford, forcing BK to drop a few spots and remove the debris. Falling back to ninth, a caution came out right then as Jeffrey Earnhardt wrecked on pit entry, collecting Casey Mears and Greg Biffle. Using the yellow as an opportunity to pit, crew chief Paul Wolfe called his driver in for servicing as the 2 Crew gained three positions.
Setting up for a sixth place restart at lap 121, Keselowski instantly jumped to P2, and two laps later, he made another spectacular move to pass Denny Hamlin for the lead. The tremendous pass for the lead made it look like Brad couldn’t be stopped en route to his third straight restrictor plate win, which would’ve put him in esteemed company alongside Dale Earnhardt, who stands as the only driver ever to win three straight races at either Talladega or Daytona.
But following another 20-lap stint out front, debris once again plagued the Miller Lite machine as water and oil temperatures shot up. Executing a perfect move with Penske-affiliated teammate Ryan Blaney, Brad was able to suck up to the No. 21’s bumper to remove most of the trash, but it was all too late, as the internal damage had been done. One lap later, the Roush Yates motor expired.
“I don’t know,” Brad said of the engine failure. “I’m not an engine guy, but the car was really strong and we definitely kept finding debris. I thought I got it cooled off and only got it slightly over, but I don’t know…We had a really fast Miller Lite Ford and that kind of ended our day. It was a lot of fun to be leading at Talladega. I really like this track. It’s been good to us and there are a lot of great fans here today. We were doing the best we could to make a show of it and have some fun and lead some laps and just happy and proud to have a fast car.”
With Brad out of commission, the next Team Penske car stepped up, and Logano took control of the race, never relinquishing it en route to Victory Lane. Meanwhile, BK was left to look forward to Martinsville next week, where he’ll have a chance at claiming his first grandfather clock.
“We had an incredible car today, and I’m really proud of that,” BK said. “We just have to keep pushing. Hopefully we can win these next four. I want to end the season with the most wins, and I think we’ve got a great shot leading it right now and with cars that ran like it did today, we have a good shot.”
See if he can do it on Sunday, Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. ET, live on NBC Sports Network.
Hemric’s Title Shot Ends at Talladega
While Brad encountered some bad luck on the Cup side, his Brad Keselowski Racing trio also had a tough time at Talladega. Facing elimination, Daniel Hemric and his No. 19 Reese Farm & Ranch/Tractor Supply Company Ford F-150 team found themselves in adversity more than they would have liked. Priding his crew on never giving up, their work and effort into keeping the truck on the track was in the caliber of a championship.
Hemric was caught up in a wreck early on but rebounded, only to be in the wrong place at the wrong time once again. The wreck-filled race ended with Daniel in seventh on the Chase Grid, just outside of the advancement window. Priding his crew on never giving up, their work and effort into keeping the truck on the track was in the caliber of a championship.
“Today was just another statement of what we’ve done all year, and that’s battle to the end,” Hemric said. “We knew what our point situation was coming into Talladega. That first wreck hurt my truck and damaged my teammates, so we were wounded and without much help. We continued to battle and got caught up in another mess. All we could do then was focus on getting to the end. I respect how easily the roles can be reversed at a track like Talladega, because we could have had a great day while one of our other Chase competitors struggled. I hate it for my guys who have been working so hard all year. We just came up short.”
Teammate Tyler Reddick managed to keep his Cooper Standard machine out front for 16 laps, but it wasn’t enough to escape the Talladega big one.
“I saw the No. 41 (Ben Rhodes) get a little sideways there and shoot up the racetrack. I knew he was going to come back down and I was just trying to avoid it,” Reddick said. “I just barely missed him, but he came down in front of someone else and it was game over from there, because everyone started wrecking.”
Bringing a third entry piloted by 18-year-old Austin Cindric in the No. 2 PIRTEK truck, the day was a learning experience for the Ohio native.
“From a learning experience standpoint, I did about as much as you could possibly do for Talladega,” Cindric said. “When they tell you to ride on the bottom for the majority of the race, you don’t know how hectic that actually is, but after a while, you anticipate it all and start to figure out what’s going to happen before it does. After that
With Hemric finishing outside the Top 10 in P11, Cindric coming home 20th, and Reddick winding up 26th, it became a forgettable afternoon for the team. They’ll be back in action next week at Martinsville Speedway for the Alpha Energy Solutions 200, live on FOX Sports 1 at 1:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 29.