Brad Keselowski isn’t in contention for the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup, but the No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford Fusion team proved that they’re still a championship-caliber squad on Sunday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway.
Brad was strong all day at The Paperclip, even challenging race-winner Jimmie Johnson late but he ran out of laps trying to catch the No. 48 car, and ultimately settled for second in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500. The runner-up finish was BK’s second, tying his career best at the Virginia short-track, leaving him pleased with the day and his team’s effort despite falling just short of the win.
“The team executed really well, we just kind of missed out on the racing Gods today,” Kes said. “We have a lot to be proud of, a great effort, and showed that we’re still a strong team if not the strongest in the garage and I’m really proud of that.”
Beginning the race from the 19th starting position after a rough qualifying effort, Kes had his work cut out to make it up to the front of the field. An initial start on the bottom line boosted him up three spots to 16th on the opening lap, and by lap 7, the Deuce was by both Jamie McMurray and David Ragan into P14. The field bunched up on lap 22 when a caution flew for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wheel-hopping and wrecking his Ford. After pitting for a set of tires and fuel, Brad was set up for a lap-29 restart from 15th.
At the green flag, he instantly drove by Aric Almirola, and passed another two cars shortly thereafter, putting the Alliance Truck Parts Ford in P12 at lap 34. From there, the long run speed of the Deuce came in, as BK passed Jeff Gordon, Chase Elliott, Tony Stewart, and Jimmie Johnson to move up to eighth by lap 55. The next yellow waved on lap 61 when Ragan’s car began leaking fluids, allowing crew chief Paul Wolfe to call his driver in for pit work.
The high line restart on lap 67 pushed the No. 2 back a spot to 11th, and on lap 75, the Deuce was nudged out of the preferred groove, dropping back to 15th. Undeterred, Brad began to climb back through his competition, passing Austin Dillon, Casey Mears, and Kurt Busch for 12th, where he sat when a debris caution flew on lap 133. While pitting for fresh Goodyear rubber and fuel, the 2 Crew made air pressure and wedge adjustments on the ATP Ford Fusion, and still gained their driver a spot on pit road, allowing Brad to restart on the bottom in 11th position.
With the inner line prevailing again, BK quickly passed Denny Hamlin, and both drivers got by McMurray, and Kyle Larson by lap 164. But Hamlin didn’t let Brad settle into eighth, and the No. 11 quickly took his spot back, dropping the No. 2 to ninth. But BK followed him through, passing Ryan Newman for eighth and later Johnson for seventh. The next debris caution flew on lap 200, and Wolfe elected to take four tires under yellow. That move cost the team just one position, and the Deuce lined up P8 for the restart on lap 207.
That move cost the team just one position, and the Deuce lined up P8 for the restart on lap 207.
After slipping down to the bottom line and settling into 10th on lap 212, Brad attempted to let Chase contender and Penske teammate Joey Logano in line, but he ended up costing himself in the process when Newman made an aggressive dive on the ATP machine. That move sent the Deuce all the way back to 15th. As he did earlier in the race, Brad rebounded by driving through the competition once more.
Over the next 25 laps, he passed Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Newman, Kyle Larson, and Carl Edwards, and by lap 240, he’d moved the 2 car back inside the Top 10. But BK didn’t stop there, also passing McMurray, Dillon, Logano, and A.J. Allmendinger to move up to sixth prior to a round of green-flag pit stops at lap 355. During the pit sequence, Carl Edwards blew a tire and knocked the wall down, causing a delay, and NASCAR took a total of 29 caution laps to sort the drivers out.
After restarting P8 from the back of the field on lap 387, it took close to 50 laps before Brad was able to pass McMurray for a position. However, he used that momentum and also scooted by Gordon and Martin Truex Jr. in the next few laps to crack the Top 5. That put him behind three Joe Gibbs Racing machines and Johnson with less than 100 laps to go in the race.
After biding his time for most of the afternoon, Brad did his best work in the closing laps. He finally got by the No. 18 of Kyle Busch on lap 466, then took down Matt Kenseth’s No. 20 car five laps later. Shortly thereafter, the No. 2 cleared Hamlin’s No. 11 for second on lap 477. BK closed a huge margin on Johnson, but as the race wound down, he found himself needing more time to get to the No. 48’s bumper.
“It was a good day for us, not the win,” Brad said. “I think we had the speed capable to pull it off, but still a really strong day. The car was good.”
The next stop for the Sprint Cup tour comes at Texas Motor Speedway for the AAA Texas 500. Dominating the race last year will surely give the 2 Crew an additional shot of confidence in the event. Tune in on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. ET, live on NBC.
Two Top 15’s for Team BKR
The Brad Keselowski Racing brigade rolled into Martinsville Speedway for the first of their four consecutive races to the finish of their season.
Daniel Hemric bested his previous top finish of 12th with a Top 10 in ninth this weekend at The Paperclip. Leading six laps on the afternoon, it was a solid day for the No. 19 Blue Gate Bank team.
“I’m really proud of our efforts,” he said. “I have been to this track more than anywhere else, and every time I come back, I try to convince myself that I like this place and should be good here. Martinsville is really challenging and it just doesn’t grow on me. It wasn’t the finish I hoped for, but I improved on my previous finishes here and brought home a top 10.”
Teammate Tyler Reddick battled with the brakes on his No. 29 machine all race long, preventing him from making a march to the front.
“The Cooper Standard Ford F-150 just felt a lot tighter today in the race than what we were in practice,” Reddick said. “We tried everything we could to make our truck it better throughout the race. It’s a tough deal, but sometimes that just a part of racing that you have. We tried our best, but there are a few things that we need to work on. We have three more races and three more opportunities to get into victory lane.”
Following his 13th place result, Reddick finds himself slotted 10th in overall standings, and hopes to stay there for the remainder of the season.
The truckers will be back in action on Friday night as they tackle Texas Motor Speedway for the Striping Technology 350, live on FOX Sports 1 at 8:30p.m. ET.