BK was joined by his father, Bob, and his uncle, Ron, and the Kes trio lifted the cover on two new paint schemes based on two trucks run by the elder Keselowski men back in the day.

Chase Briscoe will pilot the No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford in the colors of Bob’s first Truck Series win at Richmond International Raceway in 1997. Meanwhile, Austin Cindric will drive the No. 19 Draw-Tite Ford in the stunning purple of Ron’s 1974 USAC car. It’ll all happen Sept. 3 at Canadian Tire Sports Park, all while the Cup Series enjoys its throwback weekend for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Check out the reveal below:

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“This is a big day in the history of BKR,” Brad said. “To be recognized as a true partner to Ford and Ford Performance and what they are trying to do speaks directly to the hard work our team has put in over the last several years. It is an honor, frankly, and it is really what BKR is all about – providing young, talented drivers with championship-caliber equipment to continue to hone their craft and showcase their talents. We have been fortunate to have had a lot of success together with Ford across the three major NASCAR touring series and to now elevate that relationship in an official capacity is a testament to what we set out to do.”

BKR has shown in recent years that it’s already one of the top developmental programs in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Both of Brad’s full-time drivers last year, Tyler Reddick and Daniel Hemric, landed rides in the XFINITY Series for the 2017 season. However, both are now under the Chevrolet banner: Reddick at Chip Ganassi Racing and Hemric with Richard Childress Racing. In the future, Ford hopes to build a pipeline from the Truck level to the Monster Energy Cup level.

That begins with BKR and with Briscoe, a 22-year-old Indiana native who is coming off of a 2016 championship in the ARCA stock car racing series, where he captured six wins. He has been racing since 2001 in a variety of series, including quarter midgets, sprint cars, Peak Stock Car Dream Challenge and K&N Pro Series West.

Briscoe and BKR will represent the first stage of Ford Performance’s new program. The BKR effort, as well as other to-be-announced driver development efforts at different levels, will develop talent for all Ford teams in NASCAR. Current teams will be consulted as part of the selection process, but drivers in the program will have contractual obligations to Ford.

“We’re making a commitment to win long-term in NASCAR,” said Dave Pericak, global director, Ford Performance. “We have been increasing our engineering support and our technological development at the team level, and now we’re looking to work with our teams to find the best available drivers coming up in the sport.”

In addition to their role within the NCWTS race program and related marketing efforts, drivers in the new Ford program will also assist the company as test drivers within the Ford product development program.

“Starting this program with BKR makes sense since it has made a significant investment in its NASCAR Camping World Truck Series operation and it is reflected in its success on the track,” said Pericak. “As we at Ford look to develop new winning drivers for, ultimately, our Cup Series teams, the BKR model is a proven step in that ladder. We are enthusiastic about the role BKR will play in our efforts and we look forward to working very closely with the team in driver selection, engineering, and other mission critical areas.”

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Brad Keselowski Racing announced on Thursday that PIRTEK, the industry leader in fluid transfer solution sales and service in the United States, will serve as a full-time associate partner for driver Austin Cindric during the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season.

PIRTEK will also join Team Penske as an associate partner in 2017 for select races in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. The partnership will include driver appearances, business-to-business opportunities and licensing rights for both Brad Keselowski Racing and Team Penske.

“We’re pleased that PIRTEK is expanding their NASCAR involvement with Brad Keselowski Racing,” Brad said. “I’m confident that Austin and our team will deliver a quality performance as they compete full time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2017.”

PIRTEK Service and Supply Centers stock, customize and install hydraulic and industrial hoses and fittings of all kinds. The PIRTEK range of products and services is designed to meet the diverse requirements of customers of all sizes from a broad cross-section of industries. More importantly, within each of these industries, there are literally hundreds of opportunities and applications for which the PIRTEK range of products and services are in demand.

“Expanding our NASCAR involvement and growing our partnership with Brad Keselowski Racing and Team Penske was a natural evolution,” said Pirtek CEO Glenn Duncan. “Everyone at PIRTEK was excited about our first foray into NASCAR and we’re looking forward to continuing our relationship with Austin. Our partnership with Brad Keselowski Racing and Team Penske is certainly the right avenue for us.”

Cindric, 18, made four starts for the team in 2016 with PIRTEK as a partner, highlighted by a second-place qualifying effort at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada). Cindric also won from the pole in K&N Pro Series East starts in 2016 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International and Virginia (Danville, Va.) International Raceway and he was victorious in his ARCA Racing Series debut in 2016, winning with PIRTEK as a partner at Kentucky Speedway.

“I’m honored to continue to represent PIRTEK because I’ve seen firsthand that it’s an iconic brand in motorsports across the globe,” said Cindric. “It’s awesome to see their NASCAR program growing and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”

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Brad piloted the Discount Double Deuce to a second-place finish, leading 145 of 200 laps along the way.

“We had a really strong car and we made a major stride forward with this team and this program which feels really good,” Brad said. “I am very happy about the speed we had and being able to lead a lot of laps and am disappointed to not be able to bring it home there at the end. All in all, it was a good weekend for the 22 Discount Tire Ford XFINITY team.”

BK started his NXS run by snagging the Coors Light Pole award—his first in the series since 2014. At a speed of 186.909mph, he tied with fellow Michigander Erik Jones, and the top spot went to the No. 22 team, which ranked higher in Owners’ Points.

Once the green flag dropped, it was only out briefly. Choosing to start on the outside line, Brad quickly realized it wasn’t the way to go, and dropped to fourth. On lap six, he began to climb back up, passing Regan Smith for third, before a lap eight caution for Brandon Hightower spinning on the apron.

Restarting third on lap 13, Kes zipped past the No. 19 of Daniel Suarez, and 10 laps later, he passed the No. 20 of Jones for the lead. As the run ensued, the Double Deuce’s lead continued to grow until it rolled down pit road under green on lap 49 for scheduled maintenance. Swapping four tires and fuel in 12.3 seconds, the 22 Crew kept their driver out front when the cycle completed.

The second yellow flag flew on lap 71 when Ray Black Jr. spun out. Crew chief Greg Erwin elected to call Kes back in, where they put on a fresh set of rubber and topped off the tank in 12.5 seconds. The quick stop set them up for a lap 76 restart from the lead, where Brad gapped the field by over four seconds when the next debris caution waved on lap 91. Once again pitting for a set of Goodyear Eagles and fuel in 12.3 seconds, the speedy pit work sent BK out first for the lap 96 restart. As another long run broke out, it ended when Matt DiBenedetto made hard contact with the wall on lap 134. 

Kes pitted again for new tires, and the 22 Crew topped off the tank with Sunoco racing fuel, and provided wedge and air pressure adjustments in 11.8 seconds. The speedy stop locked up another P1 start for the No. 22 on lap 142, which stretched through lap 166 when Brandon Hightower’s motor expired. Erwin called BK back in for their last set of sticker tires, where the 12.6 second stop placed them back out front for the lap 171 restart.

Taking the green flag with 30 laps to go, Kyle Larson pinched Kes down to the apron, while sucking the air off his Ford Mustang, causing him to drop back to second. After regaining composure, Brad came back to take a run at Larson, but it wasn’t enough.

“Whatever car got out front with the way the aerodynamics are is going to control the pace,” BK said on chasing down the leader. “It is so hard to pass because the aero is so important and the cars are so equal that way. I thought maybe we were a touch faster, but without the track position, you lose too much grip behind the guy to do anything.”

Still, the strong finish has Roger Penske’s No. 22 atop the Owners’ Points Standings and in excellent position to advance to the championship round.

Brad will control the reigns of the car one more time this season, next week at Phoenix International Raceway for the Ticket Galaxy 200, airing live on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 7:30p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.

A Texas Sized Performance for Team BKR

With both drivers removed from Chase contention, the Brad Keselowski Racing duo of Daniel Hemric and Tyler Reddick stormed into the Lone Star State to show their abilities. Qualifying P2 and P5, respectively, their F-150’s had some single lap speed — but later proved to have long run speed as well.

Daniel Hemric scored a third place result, marking his 10th Top 5 of the season. Keeping himself in the Top 5 all race long, he led 38 laps along the way to another strong 1.5-mile performance.

“First off, I have to thank all my guys on pit road. We’ve been working really hard back at the shop and trying to perfect our pit stop stuff, so hats off to those guys for keeping us in contention,” Hemric said. “We had a really fast Blue Gate Bank Ford F-150, but about 10 or 15 laps into a run, our truck’s handling would make a big swing and give up a lot of front grip and then overall grip. I thought we would have good short-run speed on that final run, but I gave up grip even earlier that run than what we thought it would. I’m really proud of everyone at Brad Keselowski Racing for giving all the effort they could. I just really wish we could win one of these things.”

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Kes led 62 laps in this event last year, and he knows that to make it back-t0-back wins, he’ll have to work for it.

“It wasn’t a gimme race by any stretch of the imagination,” BK said after last year’s win in Texas. “We had to earn it, and we did just that with a strong, consistent day.”

Brad ran Texas in the spring NXS event, establishing his season-best third-place finish. And he felt that was a stepping stone toward the program getting back on track.

“It was a decent day for the Discount Tire Ford and for our XFINITY program,” Brad said. “We haven’t really started off the year like we wanted, but we’ve got a little bit of momentum. I think we’re starting to get our cars a little bit better. Of course, we want to win and you look at the format the XFINITY Series has and winning is really all that kind of matters.”

This weekend will mark BK’s 14th appearance in NASCAR’s second-tier event, so far amassing four Top 5s and 10 Top 10s, but in the series all about winning, the 2010 series Champion has yet to do that.

His stats at Texas Motor Speedway aren’t shabby either. In 17 total starts, he owns a pair of wins, 11 Top 5s, and 13 Top 10s while spending a total of 282 laps out front of the field. Even more impressive is how, dating back to the start of the 2013 season, Kes has never placed outside the podium.

For both Brad, and team owner Roger Penske, TMS holds a special place in their hearts. In the fall of 2010, Kes wheeled the No. 22 Discount Tire machine to Team Penske’s first NASCAR title, two weeks ahead of the finale.

“I’m thrilled for my Discount Tire/Ruby Tuesday team,” said Keselowski. “This is an awesome team that just fights real hard.”

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The No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford F-150 driver pushed his truck all the way to Victory Lane, and Daniel Hemric wasn’t far behind, bringing his No. 19 Blue Gate Bank Ford home in second for Brad Keselowski racing’s first one-two finish.

“All the guys on the Cooper Standard team did a heck of a job all weekend long,” he said. “I really enjoy coming out to Las Vegas and I really enjoy the atmosphere. In the past, it wasn’t one of my favorite racetracks, but our Cooper Standard Ford F-150 was great.”

The 2015 Camping World Truck Series runner-up missed the inaugural field of their Chase this season, but didn’t let it take away from his shot to put his No. 29 F-150 in the winner’s circle.

Starting the race from P16, Reddick had his work cut out to move to the front. Following the completion of the first lap, he advanced inside the Top 10, and by lap 12, made it inside of the Top 5. On the 33rd lap, the California Kid drove past leader Ben Kennedy to claim the top spot. His ability to slice through the field under green was more impressive than anything, as the first caution flew on lap 39 when the timer ended.

Pitting under yellow under the direction of veteran crew chief Doug Randolph, the Cooper Standard crew changed all four Goodyear tires and filled the tank with Sunoco racing fuel. Once racing resumed, he reclaimed the lead from Kennedy, and swapped the top spot with Hemric before driving away from the field on lap 102.

“We were able to get up there and run up front pretty much all day long,” Reddick said. “We didn’t qualify like I thought we were going to. The wind was moving around quite a bit this afternoon and it was just kind of gusting the wrong way for us. Qualifying kind of put us back there but, honestly, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. We had an idea early on when we were around other trucks of what we had. We were able to drive our way to the front there early on while some people, I think, were still fighting some balance changes as the track cooled down. We were spot-on from the drop of the green to the end of the race.”

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Martin Truex Jr. won to secure the first spot in the second round, but outside of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 winner, Brad is in the best position in the field, at second place in the standings, 22 points ahead of 13th place, going into the second race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

“It was just a very solid day,” Brad said. “Congrats to Martin and his team. They were the best car all weekend and got it when it counted at the end and that is the way it should be. I think we were really solid with the Miller Lite Ford. We kind of ran third to fifth the whole race and that is kind of what we had. We tried to get a little more at times but just didn’t have it. We got a solid finish and a solid day…This round here isn’t about winning, really. It’s about moving on to the next one, because everything resets.”

Kes started the race from second as the field lined up according to the Chase Grid, and held that spot until Truex passed him on lap 20. After another 20 laps he overtook Kyle Busch to reclaim second, before the first caution flew on lap 48 for an uncontrolled tire on pit road. Pitting for four tires, fuel, and an adjustment to battle the tight in center and loose off corner condition, the 2 Crew completed service in 12.2 seconds and kept Brad in second off pit road.

Lining up fourth for a lap 56 restart behind two drivers that stayed on track, Brad made quick work of both Truex and Kyle Busch once more, as he passed them within 20 laps of going green. Running in the second position behind six-time champion Jimmie Johnson, BK diagnosed his car as handling well in the first two turns, but struggling in the final two corners.

Crew chief Paul Wolfe called his driver into the pits on lap 106 under green for routine servicing, but having to drive around Austin Dillon in his pit stall caused BK to lose a position to Chase Elliott on pit road. Cycling out third, it didn’t take long for the next yellow to fly as Brian Scott lost the handle of his No. 44 in the fourth turn. The spin allowed Wolfe to work on the car once more as they changed four tires, and made an air pressure adjustment in 11.9 seconds, holding third place.

The lap 126 restart paved the way to another longer run, as the field conducted another round of green flag stops, with the Deuce pitting on lap 173. Praising his racecar’s long run ability, the 2 Crew once more changed all four Goodyear Eagles and made an air pressure adjustment before a lap 190 debris caution. Pitting again for a new set of sticker tires, the 13.3-second stop cost the Team Penske crew a position, setting up for a P4 restart.

When the green flew again on lap 199, Kes zipped right around 2015 Chicagoland winner Denny Hamlin. As the run went on, Brad started to lose the long drive speed they had earlier, as both Truex and Hamlin passed the 2012 Cup Champion, pushing him back to fifth.

Lap 237 saw Brad visit pit road once more for a scheduled stop, and the Miller Lite crew picked up a spot on Johnson, who suffered one of many speeding penalties dealt to Chase hopefuls throughout the day.

With just five laps remaining on the afternoon, Michael McDowell’s tire exploded on the backstretch, causing the final caution period of the race. Wolfe pulled his driver back in to change the tires, but a variety of strategies stirred the pot for the final overtime restart. Ryan Blaney led a group of three drivers to stay out and pick up track position. Blaney held on for a fourth place finish, while Brad restarted ninth and used his fresh rubber to edge Hamlin at the line for fifth. Joey Logano crossed second to round out a fantastic day for the Team Penske-powered trio.

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“It’s an honor to finally be locked into the first-ever NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase,” he said on advancing to the playoffs.

Hemric started the night at Chicagoland Speedway seventh in the Chase grid, and ended the night there as one of two winless drivers in the postseason. Even though Daniel hasn’t parked in Victory Lane yet this year, his consistency has been nothing but spectacular this season. After rattling off three third place finishes, he moved one step closer to that elusive win with career-best second place result at Chicago. All of this added up to a tie for the regular-season points with five-time winner William Byron.

Hemric started the American Ethanol E15 225 from 10th, but along with veteran crew chief Chad Kendrick, the duo methodically worked through the field and placed themselves in position to contend for a victory. The BKR duo ultimately came up short, as defending Sprint Cup Champion Kyle Busch claimed the win, but it was yet another strong showing for the No. 19 team.

“I’m proud of everyone on my Draw-Tite Ford F-150 team, both today and the entire season leading up to this point.”

His NCWTS performance this year has been so strong, Hemric caught the eye of legendary car owner Richard Childress, who signed the 25-year-old North Carolina native to his XFINITY Series program for the 2017 season. While Truck owner Brad Keselowski just lost what he called a potential Cup superstar, he’s still excited for the future of the young driver.

“We are very happy for Daniel and I’m really proud of what he’s accomplished with Brad Keselowski Racing in 2016,” Brad said. “One of the things we wanted to do at BKR is give talented young drivers an opportunity to take the next step in their career. He has proven to me that he’s capable of being an elite level guy at the top of this sport. We hope to finish off this season with our first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship.”

Looking toward the task at hand, Hemric is excited at the prospect of walking away from BKR, and delivering the first championship to the growing race team. After watching the Chase carry out in the Cup Series, the No. 19 Draw-Tite team immediately had a plan for making the NCWTS Chase, and they’ve executed it to perfection.

“As soon as it was announced that it would be implemented in our series, we knew we had to go to work and make the most out of every weekend. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed that we haven’t won any races up to this point, but I promise you, as a group, we were able to buckle down and make the most of every race. That’s how we found ourselves in position with a shot to battle for a title. Now that we solidly have ourselves in the Chase, we can go after this championship.”

Once the Round of 8 starts in New Hampshire next weekend, he’ll be at a 15 point deficit to Byron with his five victories. From there the No. 19 team will also compete at Las Vegas, and the wild card elimination race at Talladega to set the Round of 6.

“It’s been a good year and a testament to Brad Keselowski and his guys. I’m very proud of it,” Hemric said. “Now we just have to maximize points – and we’ll be dangerous in the Chase.”

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BK has already put together one of the best seasons of his career, tying defending Cup champion Kyle Busch for a season-high four wins. One victory away from the third five-win season of his career, Brad has had a championship-caliber run, but the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford driver is ready to add even more to the stellar 2016 season.

“I think this year, if we can win another race or two and have the consistency we have had over the last 15 to 20 races, that I will feel like a champion, whether I win it or not,” he said.

Thanks to the four wins, Brad enters the Round of 16 with 12 bonus points—which equates to 12 positions on the race track. Last season, Brad entered the postseason with three bonus point from his single victory, and proved the value of those valuable points. Advancing to the second round by only two points, if Brad didn’t have a regular-season win, he wouldn’t have advanced.

The Round of 16 will go through Chicago, Loudon and Dover. After taking on the Monster Mile, Kes will need to be in the Top 12 in points, or carry a win in order to move on. Fortunately, he has had a wealth of past success at Dover, New Hampshire and Chicago.

In the 2012 Championship season, BK started the Chase title run in Chicago with a victory, and a controversial pass on leader and championship rival Jimmie Johnson. Backing it up two years later with a 2014 victory in the Chase kickoff race, Brad compared that season to a championship run. He finished with more wins than anyone in the Cup Series that year, a career-high six, which made it feel like a championship season, even without the Homestead burnout to cap it off.

“I have had a handful of years now to reflect back on it and I don’t know if I feel like the driver that deserves to win the championship always wins the championship,” he said.

In seven races in the Windy City, Brad has put up some solid numbers. In the 1,869 possible laps in race competition, he’s only missed three lap, logging 1,866 trips around the 1.5-mile tri-oval. Only 144 of those laps have been spent in front of the field, but two of them were important laps: the last ones. Winning in 2012 and 2014, Kes hopes to keep up the even year success trend.

The 2014 Chase opening victory came in spectacular fashion, passing both Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick for the lead after a restart, allowing the Michigan native to drive away and lock himself in the second round.

In his six mile-and-a-half starts of the year, five of those ended in a Top 10 results, while the Texas outlier race was plagued with loose wheels. The most recent cookie cutter oval race at Kentucky Speedway in July ended up as a victory for the No. 2, as well as the 2 Crew’s second intermediate win of the season at Las Vegas.

With five of the 10 Chase tracks being 1.5-mile circuits, getting on the right foot at Chicagoland Speedway is the recipe for Chase success. He’ll do so from a strong starting point. Qualifying was cancelled on Friday, and the field was set on points, with Busch taking the pole and Brad on the outside pole.

Tune into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 on NBC Sports Network at 2:30p.m. ET on Sunday September 18th.

Team BKR Looks to Lock Both Trucks into the Chase

While the field is set for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, tonight’s race in Chicago finalizes the lineup for the inaugural Camping World Truck Series Chase.

Daniel Hemric, driver of the No. 19 Draw-Tite F-150 enters the cutoff race 56 points over the cut line, and with confidence. The Kannapoils, N.C. native is all but guaranteed a spot the playoffs. Making his second career start at the Joliet, Ill. track, he’s shown the potential to run well already this weekend. Posting the fastest lap in Thursday’s final practice session in track record speed, Hemric proved that his team isn’t just going through the motions this week—they still want a victory.

“I don’t have a whole lot of experience at Chicagoland Speedway, since we had an issue so early in the race last year, but I do know it’s a track that a lot of drivers look forward to going to,” he says. “Chicagoland offers such a wide racing surface to work with, that as drivers, we can constantly be searching for grip during the race. It makes you feel like you have a little more in your control as to how your day turns out.  Everyone on our Draw-Tite Ford F-150 team is focused on running well and locking down a spot in the Chase this weekend.”

Teammate Tyler Reddick ultimately knows the situation for his crew: win or bust. Entering Chicagoland 39 points outside the eight-driver field, the No. 29 team realistically understands that pointing their way in isn’t a possibility now. Finishing fourth in 2014, and putting themselves in position to win last year, a last-minute win is always possible for BKR. But the 20-year-old isn’t letting the high stakes get to him—he’s focused on what he needs to do to put his truck in Victory Lane.

“Chicagoland is a challenge because you’re never really going straight,” Reddick says. “The back straightaway can throw some people off, but you can make a pass anywhere on the race track. The bottom is still the fast way around the track, but you’ll see people moving around trying to find clean air. You must take advantage of the momentum when you have a run and complete the pass, because you don’t want to stall out and lose positions. The track conditions are constantly changing, so it can be a gamble, setup-wise, to have a good Cooper Standard Ford F-150 at the end of the race.”

Crew chief Doug Randolph emphasizes the necessity to win, but sees the must-win situation as freeing mentally.

“Our goal is to win every race, so that won’t change for us this week,” he says. “I think knowing that we must win makes it a little easier as far as risk versus reward with our decisions and strategy. The biggest thing at Chicagoland is there is room to race.”

See if they can both claim spots in the NCWTS postseason Friday night at 8:30 p.m. ET for the American Ethanol E15 225, live on FOX Sports 1.

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BK put on perhaps his best display of fuel-saving brilliance yet, as the White Lite shut off right when he crossed the start/finish line for his second consecutive win. Kes successfully followed up last week’s dominant victory at Daytona to become the only four-time winner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series so far this season. He didn’t even have enough fuel left to do a burnout on the newly repaved Kentucky surface, but he was nonetheless happy to be celebrating his 21st career win.

“I feel terrible for the fans. I didn’t get to do a burnout. Had no gas—the car wouldn’t run,” Brad said. “But we’re back here in Victory Lane. Great Saturday night. I don’t know if I’ve ever had that happen and I don’t want it to happen ever again—I’d rather drive it into Victory Lane. You take ’em anyway you can get ’em…This was a hard-fought battle and I’m really proud of everybody on the 2 crew to get win No. 4 and take that first place.”

Friday rain washed away the chances for Coors Light Pole qualifying, relegating the field to start by Owners’ Points, with Brad lined up in second. With polesitter Kevin Harvick choosing the outer line, it forced the Deuce to the inner line, where the low downforce package forced any driver to lift off the throttle. Dropping back to P4 right from the start, Kes picked one back up as he drove around the No. 19 of Carl Edwards.

Lap 11 saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. lose the handle of his Ford in the treacherous third turn, as he smacked the wall. That set up a lap 15 restart from third for BK, once again the higher line prevailed and set Brad back to fourth, where he remained until the lap 25 competition caution. Changing two right-side tires and adding fuel, the 6.1 second stop kept the Deuce right where it entered in preparation for a lap 32 restart from fourth.

Immediately after the restart, six-time champion Jimmie Johnson left the racing groove, and wrecked his No. 48 Chevrolet. Restarting fourth once more on lap 37, Brad had trouble generating the power he needed, and he was run over by Martin Truex Jr. The untimely aero bump from the 78 sent the No. 2 all the way back to ninth.

Methodically, Brad began working back up towards the front. Passing Joey Logano on lap 41, and Kurt Busch three laps later, he already advanced to seventh when Logano’s tire blew, sending him hard into the wall at lap 52. Crew chief Paul Wolfe decided to start the strategy game early, and leave his driver out on the track as a tire wear experiment—and to regain some precious track position.

BK had his best restart of the evening to keep first place on the lap 60 restart. He held the top spot for three laps, but ultimately was passed by Truex, Harvick, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Blaney back to fifth place—where he remained until he was saved by a Matt DiBenedetto wreck and subsequent caution at lap 79. Kes took the opportunity to pit for four sticker Goodyear Eagles and fuel, setting up for a 15th place restart as all the other leaders only took two slicks.

The lap 88 restart didn’t last long as Rookie of the Year contenders Chase Elliott and Blaney made contact entering the tough turn three, and both backed into the wall. The incident allowed Brad to jump up to 12th for the lap 92 restart, where carnage once again ensued a lap after green.

Taking the green once more on lap 103 from P10, Keselowski made quick work of Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle, jumping back up to eighth. With the field surviving a restart, the cars became spread out and prepared for a long run, as a round of green-flag pit stops found Kes on lap 147. During the cycle, Regan Smith’s No. 7 experienced tire problems, and made hard contact with the SAFER barrier. When it all shook out, the 2 Crew’s fast pitwork allowed the team to jump up another spot to seventh.

“I was in trouble early on and Paul Wolfe and the team kept working on it,” BK said. “When it came to night time, the car got a little bit better for us. The track came in and with some adjustments from Paul and the team, we got where we needed to be.”

Setting up for the lap 158 restart from seventh, it didn’t last long before the lap 161 caution for a Clint Bowyer spin. The lap 166 restart from P7 saw Brad pass Edwards once more, and Jamie McMurray the next time by, breaking back into the Top 5. Following the evenings trend, another yellow waved on lap 172 as A.J. Allmendinger crashed his No. 47 for the second time in the race. The subsequent lap 177 restart from fifth kept him there when the final yellow flew on lap 194.

Wolfe made the race winning decision to pit for two tires and as much fuel as the Miller Lite Ford could take. Nervously, the strategist came across the team radio saying they are close, but should be able to make the finish. However, that decision was made with the prediction that another yellow was likely in the final 73 laps, given the 11 that had flow prior.

Brad was set to restart fifth and on the inside line when Truex, who led 46 laps on the evening, was penalized during his trip down pit road, sending him to the back and Brad to fourth—and more importantly to the outside. Kes used that positioning, the handling his team gained him through adjustments, and a brilliant aero move on Harvick, to take the lead.

“We came down pit road with about 73 to go and left pit road fifth, and I thought, ‘Well who knows how these things will go.’ Then the 78 got that penalty, moved us into the outside line, which we saw all night was the preferred line. I was able to clear the two inside cars and get into Turn 3 behind Kevin, about half a car length back. I had a pretty good idea that I could create an aero wake behind his car and loosen him up without touching him, and I was able to make the move and get by him,” BK explained.

Restarting on lap 199 from fourth, Brad’s stellar restart saw him claim the lead by turn three. Showing no signs of letting up yet, he set the fastest lap of the race on the 202nd circuit at a speed of 186.008 mph. He had built a massive lead when the rest of the field headed down pit road for fuel with less than 20 laps to go. With about 10 to go, he and Wolfe began talking strategy.

“We knew we couldn’t make it,” Wolfe said after the race. “We knew we were short, but as we got out there and got the lead on that final run, Brad started saving. He’s one of the best in the business at saving fuel. With 10 to go, he was like, ‘Make the call—what do you want me to do.’ We know what our strengths are, and that’s saving fuel. So I told him to into a level-10 fuel-save-mode.”

Perhaps the best fuel-saving duo in NASCAR, Brad and Paul were in their element. Brad let up and briefly let Kenseth pass him for the lead at lap 260—but the No. 20 hit pit road the next time by, setting up a crawl to the checkers between Kes and Edwards. Brad used every bit of his three-second cushion, allowing Edwards to get all the way to his bumper with two laps to go. From the cockpit of the No. 19, it looked like Brad was just toying with his longtime rival.

“I’ve got to give credit where credit is due: Brad played that perfectly. That was really frustrating,” Edwards said with a laugh. “He baited me in there and then he just went and blocked. But he won the race. He did a good job…It’s hard to swallow that one. We thought we had it, but he played it perfectly. I thought he was out off of 4 with 1 to go. He went exactly at the right time off the corner. He won the race.”

But Brad’s side of the story was a bit different. He didn’t intend to let Edwards get so close—he actually ran out and began to stumble with two laps to go.

“The next-to-the-last lap, it ran out of gas, and I was in trouble,” Brad said. “I didn’t think I was going to make it back around. So I just started it back up and I held the gas pedal down and it ran—it blubbered just enough to stay in front of Carl and literally, it shut off at the start-finish line taking the checkered flag. Couldn’t have timed it any more perfect than that—heck of a way to finish a race.”

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