Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion team will look to bounce back from lackluster runs at Phoenix International Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway and end a stellar 2016 season on a high note at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Kes was left out of the final two rounds of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, but he still sits in a five-way tie for the series lead in wins—a title he’ll look to take home with a Ford EcoBoost 400 win this weekend.
“We can still leave Homestead this weekend with the most wins in the series and that is our focus,” BK said.
The Ford EcoBoost 400 marks the end of the 2016 Sprint Cup Series season, as well as the end of title sponsor Sprint’s 12-year tenure with NASCAR. Through Brad’s 268 races and 21 wins, all under the Sprint banner, his 15th-place finish at HMS in 2012 had to be the favorite of those races.
Kes entered the 2012 season finale at Homestead with a healthy lead over Jimmie Johnson, needing only a 15th-place finish to secure his first Cup title, no matter where the 48 finished. The stressful night in Florida led to two things: a 15th place result, and a Sprint Cup Championship. The event awarded both Kes and legendary team owner Roger Penske one of the hardest achievements in motorsports.
“I can’t be here withou them,” Brad said, pointing at his crew. “This isn’t a one-man effort, I might get the glory but it’s about these guys, it’s about my family.”
Since that P15 finish, Brad has grown even stronger at Homestead. Though he’s still winless at the top level on the south Florida racetrack, BK has posted third place results in his last two races on the 1.5-mile speedway. Although, in the preliminary XFINITY Series competition, he has claimed two Coors Light Pole awards, as well as a pair of victories. The most recent of those triumphs came in 2013 when he went on a tear from 11th to the lead in only seven laps.
In the Cup level, the Michigan native has completed all but three of his possible 2136 laps, spending 86 of them out in front of the field one year ago.
“We will treat this race as we treat the rest of them – we show up to win,” Kes said. “Since we are not in the Chase, we have nothing to lose, but we still have a lot to gain.”
Brad is in the thick of the race for the most wins in the Cup Series, and he’s also looking to make history by adding another Top 5. He has the opportunity to match the amount of Top 5 finishes he marked in the stellar 2014 season: 17 of them — nearly half of the season, a career-high.
While the championship hunt is over for the No. 2 team, looking at the bigger picture, and Team Penske’s 50th anniversary, Brad knows what is on the line at Homestead.
“The other part of this is that Team Penske is in the Chase so our team will support Joey and the No. 22 Ford team to the best of our ability,” BK said.
The Ford EcoBoost 400 is set to get underway on Sunday, Nov. 23 at 2:30p.m. ET live on NBC. Tune in to see if Brad can end his season on a high note with a win, and if Logano can bring his first title back to Penske.
Owners’ Title on the line for Penske
As the three-time and defending NASCAR XFINITY Series Owners’ Points Champions, Roger Penske’s flagship No. 22 car has the opportunity to continue their legacy this weekend. Handing the reigns of the Double Deuce off to young phenom Ryan Blaney, the Penske group is confident in itsability to bring in another title.
Competing against the 12-time NXS winning Joe Gibbs Racing No.18, as well as Daniel Suarez and Elliott Sadler, Blaney will be tested against some strong competition. Put in the final Round of 4 from a third-place result by Joey Logano at Kansas, and a pair of Top 10’s from BK at Texas and Phoenix, he’s hoping his protégé can pull it off.
“We did what we needed to do and Ryan Blaney will have a great chance to win another Owners Championship for the team next weekend,” Brad said after Phoenix.
Tune into their finale, the Ford EcoBoost 300 at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 19 live on NBC Sports Network.
Hemric and Reddick Suit Up for Final Team BKR Race
A testament to Brad Keselowski Racing’s status as one of the premier Cup Series teams, both Daniel Hemric and Tyler Reddick landed rides in the XFINITY Series next season, making this weekend’s Ford EcoBoost 200 their last ride for Team BKR.
Already with two Homestead-Miami Speedway races under his belt, Hemric enters the weekend with a load of experience. At the end of his one-year term with Brad Keselowski Racing, Hemric wants to end the season in style with a win before heading to Richard Childress Racing.
“Going to Homestead for the third time is definitely something I’ve been looking forward to all year, especially with the recent momentum we’ve had on mile-and-a-half racetracks,” he said. “We’re going to go down there, take advantage of one last opportunity together and put our Draw-Tite Ford F-150 into Victory Lane.”
Teammate Tyler Reddick is also prepared to end his stint with BKR on a high note as well by adding a second 1.5-mile win to his season. The California Kid will join Chip Ganassi Racing in 2017.
“The progressive banking at Homestead is a great help to a driver and one more thing I can do to make our Cooper Standard Careers For Veterans Ford F-150 handle better,” Reddick said. “It’s so much fun to go to tracks like Homestead where you can really move around and help yourself. Homestead is the last race of the year and I really want to go home with the trophy.”
See if they can add a second win to BKR’s season when the Ford EcoBoost 200 goes green tonight on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET.