The No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion team has been in contention for victory every week so far in this 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, but equipment issues in this weekend’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway kept Brad Keselowski from adding a third victory.
Brad battled power steering issues all day—not ideal on a short track like Bristol, leading to several other issues and ultimately a 34th-place finish.
“It just wasn’t the run we wanted or needed with the Miller Lite Ford Fusion,” Brad said. “I don’t know what happened exactly. We had a few different issues, one of which was with the power steering, I think the same problem the 21 car had. I just couldn’t drive it so we had to take it behind the wall. It’s a frustrating end of the race for sure.”
It was a rainy weekend in Thunder Valley, as qualifying was canceled and set on the point standings. Kes started fourth for his 15th start at The Last Great Colosseum, but the green flag waved 24 hours late, as the weather bumped the main event from Sunday to Monday afternoon.
Brad and the Miller 2 Crew were just starting to work out the kinks in their ride early on, as the No. 2 Ford remained in the Top 10. However, a restart at lap 55 was the beginning of the bad luck for BK. Kes reported some troubles with his power steering, as did Ryan Blaney in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford, and he was bottled up as the field went back to green and fell out of the Top 20.
For the first time all season, Brad missed out on both opportunities for stage points. He finished 17th in Stage 1 and was outside the Top 20 at the end of Stage 2.
At lap 293, BK pitted, fearing he had a loose wheel. The 2 Crew fitted him with new tires, but before too long, he was right back off of the track and behind the wall. Paul Wolfe’s crew made the necessary repairs, but when Kes returned to the track, he was 67 laps off pace, where he finished 34th.
The No. 2 Miller Lite team earned just three points for their efforts, falling to fifth in the standings, 83 points behind leader Kyle Larson. Jimmie Johnson captured his second consecutive victory, joining Brad as the only two-time winners in the Cup series this year.
NEXT UP
The Monster Energy Cup Series now continues on to Richmond International Raceway for the Toyota Owners 400.
Kes will make his 16th career start at the 3/4-mile raceway. He logged finishes of 11th and fourth in Richmond a season ago, but he’ll look to get back to his 2014 dominance. That year, he started second and finished fourth in the spring before winning from the pole in the fall, leading a combined 497 laps along the way.
The ninth race of the 2017 season will go green around 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday.