Rounding off the three-stop #NASCARGoesWest trilogy, Brad Keselowski wants nothing less than to cap off the near month-long journey with three Top 5 finishes in the wild west. This week’s venue is Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.—a track that BK has seen his share of adversity, followed by a bit of success.
After six straight finishes between 18th and 26th place in his first six career starts at Fontana, Brad broke through at the unique 2-mile D-shaped oval, leading just one lap—the last one—to bring his Wurth Ford Fusion to Victory Lane in 2015.
“We were able to find our way through the lanes and get to the front there, somehow end up in Victory Lane leading the last lap,” Brad said, reminiscing on his 2015 win. “Kind of a race car driver’s dream. This is one we’re going to sit back and go ‘Wow!’ for a while.”
The running of the Auto Club 400 in 2015 saw domination by a few drivers including Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick, as they all paced the field over 30 laps each. Lingering just on the fringe of the Top 5 all race long, it appeared to be a solid performance, but not a flashy day from the 2 Crew. But in the waning laps, a stellar four-tire call by Paul Wolfe ahead of a Green-White-Checkered finish allowed Brad to make a last-lap pass and steal the day in Fontana. Already doing this at Talladega in 2009, it made Kes the only driver since 1959 to win multiple races after only leading the last lap.
Though Fontana has brought its frustrations, Kes has managed to keep his machines remarkably clean in California. BK’s lap-completion percentage is nearly flawless. In the eight Monster Energy Cup starts, Brad logged all but three of the 1,599 possible laps.
Already scoring a playoff-clinching win in Atlanta, the 2 Crew will be able to play another strategy move to put themselves in position to capitalize again. Like Atlanta, Auto Club is home to one of the oldest track surfaces that NASCAR visits, something the Michigan native appreciates. Auto Club Speedway, along with its sister track in Michigan International Speedway, are the two remaining tracks designed and built by team owner Roger Penske, giving Brad that extra incentive to bring back another trophy. The Captain last won as an owner in back-to-back years from 2000-01 with Jeremy Mayfield and Rusty Wallace, and the 14-year winless drought that followed wasn’t what one of the most successful owners in motorsports envisioned at his Southern California track, though it made it that much more fulfilling when BK captured the checkered flag.
“When we won, (Roger Penske) said to me, ‘I built this dang track, but I never thought it would be so hard to get wins here,’” Brad said.
Wolfe’s final four-tire call was the decision of the race, as any other strategy play would’ve left BK out of Victory Lane. If he’s to win again at Fontana, he’ll have to do it without his crew chief. The No. 2 car earned a Laser Inspection Station (LIS) penalty at Phoenix, setting the No. 2 team back 35 points, dropping them from second to fourth overall in standings; along with Wolfe’s suspension for three events.
“Paul Wolfe is an elite crew chief, I feel really lucky to have him, he’s one of those guys that wins races,” Brad said on his pit box mastermind. “He’s got great cars with great speed. To lose a guy like that, it definitely hurts, he’s a great asset to our team. This is one of those setbacks that any team faces, and we’ll get through it.”
During his three weeks of absence, Wolfe will be replaced with another familiar face to 2 Crew fans in former Cup race engineer, and current XFINITY crew chief Brian Wilson.
“The good thing about Brian Wilson is he comes from the XFINITY side as a crew chief, who just won with Joey Logano at Las Vegas,” BK says. “But even before that, he was on the 2 team as the lead engineer, so a lot of knowledge and experience, and we look forward to working together with him.”
Tune into the Auto Club 400 to see if Brad can score another Fontana win when the field takes the green flag on Sunday, March 26th at 3:30 p.m. ET live on FOX.