An engine failure knocked Brad Keselowski from NASCAR Sprint Cup championship contention, but the No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford Fusion driver isn’t throwing in the towel on the 2016 season.
Now, it’s all about wins for the Team Penske driver. He is currently locked in a four-way tie with Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr., all with four wins on the year. In the final four races, BK hopes to claim the series lead in victories and fight for fifth place in the final standings. That begins in this weekend’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway, a track where BK is imbued with confidence.
“It does matter to me,” he said on overall season ending standings. “We’re starting to get this place where we’re really consistent and can run up front and that’s a good feeling.”
Preparing for his 500-lap weekend, he cruised to the racetrack in the passenger seat of his team hauler, alongside weekly driver Mike “Bama” Williams, and answering fan questions along the way. The most recent race run with ATP colors at Pocono Raceway was a near victory for the 2 Crew, finishing the day as the runner-up in the fog-shortened event. And without a title on the line, Kes wants to improve on that result.
“Win more races,” BK said of his outlook after Talladega.
In Brad’s Cup career at Martinsville, he has managed to pace the field for 171 laps, with 143 of them coming in the fall 2015 event. His Deuce contained class-of-the-field speed, at one point claiming a lead in excess of 11 seconds, or over half of a lap, on the competition. Between himself and Team Penske teammate Joey Logano, they combined to lead 350 of 500 laps—70 percent of the race.
In his last two fall Paperclip appearances, the Michigan native has been plagued with mechanical issues. A faulty transmission in 2014 dropped him to a P31 finish, while a broken tie rod in 2015 paved the way to another finish outside of the Top 30.
While he’s seen a share of negatives at the Virginia half-mile track, the annual spring event has paved the way to some more memorable races. Last year’s running of the spring showdown resulted in a thriller between Brad and rival Denny Hamlin. A debris caution with 40 laps remaining set BK up for a run at the checkers, and he surely went for it. Already with previous bad blood with Hamlin, Kes knew he couldn’t push the envelope without consequence. Trying every possible late-race short track maneuver he could think of, Brad ran through the checklist – just without checking off the wrecking box.
“Hats off to Brad,” Hamlin said. “He had an option (to wreck me) and he took the latter — thank him for that.”
This season’s first race was a strong showing of Brad’s short-track abilities. Marred by a speeding penalty under a lap 91 caution sequence, he fought back through the field to finish fifth.
“It was a good Martinsville race,” BK said. “We had a lot of speed with the Miller Lite Ford on the long runs, but just not quite enough on the short runs to make anything of the Gibbs cars. They were really strong all day. All in all, I’m real proud of my team.”
Without worrying about the Chase, Martinsville has the potential to be an interesting race for the 2 Crew. Tune into the Goody’s Fast Relief 500, Sunday Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.
Team BKR Looks Forward to More Martinsville Success
After facing elimination from his respective Chase, Daniel Hemric now tends his focus towards winning in one of the final four races of the season. His first opportunity comes in Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 200 at Martinsville Speedway.
“Martinsville is a place I’m always looking forward to getting back to,” Hemric said. “As someone who grew up short-track racing, it’s a place where I feel like I can excel, and it’s also one of the places I have the most experience at. Track position at a place like Martinsville is key, especially in this shorter 200-lap race.”
Finishing a disappointing P22 in their first trip to Martinsville earlier this year, Hemric looks to improve. With a best finish of 12th place in two separate races, the potential is there to best the spring result.
“You don’t have a lot of time to make your way to the front, so you have to unload fast, qualify well and make the right decisions to stay up front,” Brad said. “We are 100-percent focused on winning races at this point, so we’re able to take some chances we may not have been able to make if we were still in contention for the championship.”
Teammate Tyler Reddick also looks to add another victory to the tally. In his 2015 campaign, Reddick managed to finish inside the Top 5 on both occasions en route to second in points.
“Track position is even more important now at Martinsville and I think it has a lot to do with the Caution Clock,” he said. “That creates more stress for the crew chief because there’s going to be more restarts and more opportunities to get shuffled back in the pack. Racing at Martinsville is mentally challenging and drivers’ patience can wear thin very quickly, plus drivers’ tempers can come into play, so you have to race smart. I plan to race hard for all 200 laps and put our Cooper Standard Ford F-150 in a good position during the last run to the finish.”
Success for BKR at The Paperclip is no foreign concept. The Spring event last season saw Joey Logano take over the No.29, completing a virtual sweep of the day. Logano started off by claiming the Keystone Light Pole Award, and setting a new track record along the way at 19.504 seconds (97.08 mph). Logano then went on to win the event, in an electrifying Green-White-Checkered restart, darting out of line around leader Matt Crafton.
The Texas Roadhouse 200 presented by Alpha Energy Solutions kicks off on Saturday Oct. 29th at 1p.m. ET, live on FOX Sports 1.