Saturday’s 200-lap XFINITY Series event at New Hampshire’s Magic Mile continued the Top 10 streak for Brad Keselowski in 2017. But in possession of the best car, the No. 22 Discount Tire team didn’t have enough to close it out.
Kes led a race-high 102 laps and picked up a Stage 2 victory, but a late mishap on pit road cost the Team Penske crew a shot at victory as they settled for fifth place.
“We just had an ill-timed pit road penalty there at the end of the race,” Brad said. “I don’t have a much better way to say it than that.”
Starting from the second spot, Brad snatched the lead early in the opening laps and held it until a red flag for rain on lap 30. Pitting from the first position, he took right side tires in a 6.6-second stop, shaping up for a P10 restart behind those who stayed out.
Going green on lap 35, it took him five laps to claw up to seventh, and when Stage 1 ended on lap 35, BK also passed Brennan Poole and Justin Allgaier to break into the Top 5.
Kes restarted fourth on lap 52 and, seven laps later, passed Kyle Larson and Ryan Preece to claim second place. After some more time to track down the leader, lap 73 saw Brad pass Kyle Busch for the lead once again. Holding the lead until the end of the second Stage on lap 90, the Discount Tire crew led the field onto pit road, electing to take four tires and fuel in 14.5 seconds, en route to a P4 restart.
Going green on lap 97, it only took five laps this time to rise back to the top. Kes held steady out in front until the lap-170 green-flag pit stop. The stop was clean until the very end. The gas can was caught in the fueling nozzle as Brad pulled away, and the ensuing pass-through penalty forced the dominant car and driver to surrender a victory.
Despite that last mishap, Brad still powered his way to a Top 5 finish on what he called a fun day with a disappointing end.
“It is always fun being fast and leading the most laps and all, that but we just didn’t put the whole race together today,” Kes said.
After their disappointment of a finish, the 22 Team still boasts a whopping 98-point cushion in Owners’ Points over Chip Ganassi’s No. 42 entry.