Back in 2011, his first season running the No. 2 car, Brad Keselowski memorably stormed to his first victory in the Deuce at Kansas Speedway, capping nearly three months of rough finishes with a signature victory that excited Brad so, he let his emotions go on the radio.
“We finally got a break Paul!” Brad screamed to his crew chief, Paul Wolfe.
My, how things have changed. Kes has since won 21 races, including two this season, as well as the 2012 Cup Series championship, behind the wheel of the No. 2 car.
However, this weekend, with Wolfe sitting out the final race of a three-race suspension, Brad and the 2 Crew head back to Kansas seeking another break from a track that used to be among the driver’s favorites, but has lately been anything but kind to BK and his team.
Since a recent repave at the 1.5-mile speedway, the 2012 Champion has admittedly struggled to once again find his Kentucky groove. But teammate Joey Logano, who has one at Kansas in two of the last three seasons, has provided some great insights throughout the Team Penske stables.
“We haven’t had the runs we would like to have here at Kansas as of late, and we’re trying some different things to be better,” Brad said. “[ has been really good here and we’re looking at them and saying, ‘Hey, they’ve got a lot of speed here,’ and we’ll try some things.”
It’ll be an adjustment for every driver as the series shifts from the restrictor plate drafting style of Talladega to the Kansas 1.5 mile track. Brad ran well at Dega, starting the race with one of the strongest cars in the early laps of the race, Kes easily claimed the first Stage. However, he collected some damage in a late wreck that foiled his chances for a third win of the season. Still, a resilient effort saw him draft his way up to a P7 finish. It may take some more of that same magic to find success this weekend.
After advancing two spots on overall points with last weekend’s resilient finish, the 2 Crew heads to Kansas Speedway looking close the gap on the points lead.
Even though they don’t run restrictor plates in Kansas, the accidents cause just as much damage. Last spring, BK was going for the race win in the closing laps, but it wasn’t meant to be as Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 car sucked the air off of BK’s Alliance machine. Unfortunately, it caused the Deuce to go for a loop in turn 3. He sustained no more damage than a set of flat-spotted tires, but was forced to settle for a 10th place finish.
Because the spring Kansas race is run on Mother’s Day weekend it’s scheduled to be the first Saturday night race of the 2017 season. The element of night racing adds another dimension to the already challenging track post repave.
“It’s a night race, it tends to be a little bit more toward the bottom, a little bit more about track position,” BK said. “So you’re going need the balance as always.”
The rough and bumpy surface that previously adorned Kansas Speedway well suited BK’s driving style. His Sunflower State debut in 2009 under the Hendrick Motorsports banner was nothing but a success for the then part-time driver. Starting a season-high P3, Kes went on to record a 13th place result.
Two seasons later, the midwestern 1.5-mile track expanded it’s presence to two Sprint Cup races per season. The first of them came in the spring, where Brad and Wolfe synchronized perfectly to claim the pair’s first Cup victory together. In an excellent display of fuel mileage racing, Brad’s clutch clutch-work saved enough precious fumes to earn the first of many race wins for the legendary owner Roger Penske. Following the triumph, Brad was relieved that his team finally had attained the much-deserved result.
“We just never caught that good break, and you can only put yourself in that position so many times before you’re going to catch the right break, and we caught a great break today all because of the hard work from the Miller Lite team.”
With the key ingredient in that victory being Wolfe’s guidance from atop the box, the 2 Crew will be at a loss this weekend as Paul is serving his final sanction of a three race suspension. Once again, long time No.2 race engineer Brian Wilson will step up to call the race.
Last week, Brad wheeled a fresh paint scheme at Talladega, the Green Fitzgerald Glider Kits Ford and this weekend he’ll make it two straight weeks with a new backer when he rolls out with sponsorship from Freightliner Elite Support. As a bonus, No.2 hauler driver Mike “Bama” Williams was treated to a brand new 2018 Freightliner hauler to replace Team Penske’s 2015 model.
Tune into the Go Bowling 400 on Saturday, May 11th, at 7:30 p.m. ET, live on FOX Sports 1.