Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion team didn’t have the speed to contend with the likes of race winner Martin Truex Jr. and polesitter Kyle Busch—but the Team Penske group made the most of its Playoff-opening race at Chicagoland Speedway.
Kes qualified in fifth place and remained right around that position for nearly the entire Tales of the Turtles 400. His White Lite swung loose late in the race and he finished sixth, but nonetheless, it was a solid start to the Monster Energy Cup Series postseason. BK started and remained fourth in the Cup standings, and he holds a 35-point cushion over the 12th-place cutline.
“We can be happy with sixth,” Brad said afterward. “We scored a bunch of stage points and had a solid day up front. We are still looking for a little speed, but execution today was really, really strong. Great day on pit road, great restarts. All that stuff was what you look for, we just need to marry that up with some speed and we can win any of these races.”
The first playoff event didn’t bring the best start for Brad, as he incidentally bent his left side skirt in while driving from the apron onto the banking of Chicagoland Speedway. Stage 1 stayed green the whole way through, and BK held on to his Miller Lite Ford to finish sixth, earning some valuable points as part of a strong 42-point day. Busch dominated the opening 80-lap segment, leading all every lap and putting more than half the field a lap down in the process. Meanwhile, the next dominant car, Truex’s 78, was penalized early, putting him temporarily out of the picture.
On the first stop of the day, jackman Braxton Bannon fixed the Miller machine’s side skirt, helping BK cruise to fourth on the Stage 2 restart. He moved to third shortly thereafter when Busch pitted out of sequence due to a loose tire. On that stop, Busch’s pit crew was flagged for coming over the wall too soon, putting him two laps down. Those two miscues kept his dominant No. 18 out of contention.
Green flag pit stops came around lap 125, and crew chief Paul Wolfe used the opportunity to pit late and lead one lap, earning another point. Kes cycled out to fourth after pitting, but just when one dominant Toyota car bowed out, another reappeared. Truex passed Brad with 12 laps to go in Stage 2, dropping BK to fifth, where he closed the stage.
After a quick caution at the outset of Stage 2, Brad battled with Chase Elliott and Truex for the second spot behind Kevin Harvick, though he didn’t quite have the power to hold on to that second spot, falling to fourth. The fourth and final caution flag flew when Erik Jones spun out at lap 210. Brad pitted from and restarted in fourth, but his Miller Lite Ford was too loose on the final run, and he was passed back by Larson to sixth, where he remained when the checkered flag flew.
Meanwhile, Truex made sure that there wouldn’t be a dramatic finish to open the Playoffs. The Toyota driver led the final 54 laps and won by a comfortable margin of more than seven seconds.
While the 2 Crew still lacks race winning speed behind the Toyotas of Busch and Truex, Brad is still confident in their chances of advancing through to the second round of NASCAR’s postseason.
“One more of these races either Loudon or Dover and we should be good to advance to the next round,” BK said. “I think we can pull that off.”
Both Loudon and Dover are strong tracks historically for Brad. The Cup Series heads to New Hampshire next week for the ISM Connect 300. Kes boasts 10 Top 10 finishes and one win in 16 Cup starts at the 1.058-mile oval. Green flag for the second Playoff race is set for 2 p.m. ET on Sunday.
PLAYOFF STANDINGS
- Martin Truex Jr. – 2102
- Kyle Larson – 2075
- Kevin Harvick – 2067
- Brad Keselowski – 2061
- Kyle Busch – 2061
- Chase Elliott – 2059
- Denny Hamlin – 2058
- Jimmie Johnson – 2046
- Matt Kenseth – 2039
- Ryan Blaney – 2034
- Jamie McMurray – 2031
- Austin Dillon – 2026
ROUND OF 16 CUTLINE
- Kurt Busch – 2026
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 2022
- Kasey Kahne – 2021
- Ryan Newman – 2019