Following a few less-than-memorable weekends, two-time 2017 winner Brad Keselowski plans on swinging back into a groove at a track known for throwing curveballs: Pocono Raceway.
The 14th points race of the season takes the Monster Energy Cup Series to an oddly shaped raceway tucked into the Pennsylvania mountains. Known as The Tricky Triangle, Pocono provides a different style of racing that will demand 110 percent from both BK and his No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion.
But the all-out challenge suits BK just fine.
“It is a very unique track – it is almost like a mix of an oval and a road course,” he says. “The track is also uniquely situated geographically. Most race tracks on the Cup circuit are relatively close to a large city.”
The demanding race is a 400-mile venture that will strain the motor, brakes, and transmission. But ever the optimist, Brad looks at some of the things that make Pocono so challenging as positives for his team.
“I tend to find things that I like about all the tracks that we race on. That is the optimal way to approach the weekend. The variation in corner speed, the length of the long straight and the configuration of the corners are unlike any other circuit,” Brad says. “Having won there in 2011 makes it standout in my mind. That was a big win for us without a doubt.”
That August 2011 victory at Pocono was a triumph on a few levels. It was BK’s third career victory and second behind the wheel of the Deuce, one that all but locked him into his first playoff. Additionally, it was the first race that the Michigan native had won on pure speed.
In a conversation with longtime spotter Joey Meier, Brad noted that his first win came at the crapshoot Talladega Superspeedway, and his second was a fuel mileage win in Kansas. But the most memorable part of all was how he won just four days after fracturing his ankle in a testing crash.
Though in full health entering this weekend’s Tricky event, Kes will look to repeat that performance. In recent Pennsylvania runs, the No. 2 has all but scored a victory. The last three results for the 2 Crew at Pocono have seen them come up second, third, and second again, a string of success they’d like to cap with a victory on Sunday. And Paul Wolfe & Co. believe they can obtain a win on pure speed or strategy.
Historically, the newly paved tracks don’t mesh well for the 2 Crew, but the wheelman said it didn’t take long for this particular 2.5-mile track to come back into their wheelhouse.
“There has been a handful of tracks, maybe Pocono, Homestead and a few others that I might have left out that have used an aggregate in their asphalt where the track has aged very quickly and has kind of hit a sweet spot to where I think the racing has been phenomenal and the groove has widened out and the track is predictable.”
Needing to best his most recent Pocono finish by one spot to leave with a trophy, we’ll see if that can happen in the Pocono 400 on Sunday, June 11th at 3 p.m. ET, live on FOX Sports 1.