At the end of a weekend that saw almost every part of the Independence Day themed event altered by the weather, NASCAR officials called Sunday’s Coke Zero 400 due to more rain, 48 laps short of its conclusion, with Brad running in 18th position, one lap down.

Before the race’s anti-climactic conclusion, BK navigated two titanic wrecks, one collecting 16 and another claiming 26 cars, and kept his No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford Fusion in the running, but he sustained damage in both accidents, which halted his charge for back-to-back victories.

“We had a strong Ford Fusion today, though we didn’t get much of a chance to show it,” Kes said. “I have to give credit to the crew as they did great job of patching the car up and keeping me in the race. It was just one of those days.”

It was a difficult weekend altogether for Brad and the 2 Crew, starting in qualifying. BK failed to make it out of the first round of qualifying, which was cut short due to rain, and started 26th. It was just his fifth points race this year where he didn’t qualify sixth or better. Afterward, he admitted that he and his team, including Penske partner Joey Logano, who qualified 28th, have still yet to formulate a winning strategy for time trials in restrictor plate events.

Rain continued to dampen the weekend in Daytona Beach, including postponing the Coke Zero 400 from it’s originally scheduled Saturday night green flag time to Sunday morning. With cars impounded overnight, teams weren’t able to make significant changes. Fortunately, the No. 2 team was thinking ahead.

After starting 26th, BK cracked the Top 20 and nearly the Top 15 before a brief 25-minute red flag flew due to more rain just 11 laps after Sunday’s green flag. 

“I’m trying to be optimistic. I think the race was just starting to take shape,” Brad said on TNT during the first red flag. “The car’s really strong. We were a little ahead of the curve thinking it was going to rain yesterday—we put a different handling package on it. I think we’ll be one of the cars to beat.”

Unfortunately, Brad ultimately was never able to show off the strong No. 2. Less than 10 laps later, and just before the NASCAR mandated competition caution, a massive chain-reaction wreck swallowed up nearly half the field, including the No. 2 Ford.

From the high line, it looked like Brad might luck out as several drivers wrecked ahead of him. But when Matt Kenseth was clipped and began to spin just inside of Kes, he smacked the left side of the No. 2, sending it into the outer wall. Amid the mayhem, he also made contact with the back of Marcos Ambrose, who was running right ahead of him on the outside.

The wreck dealt damage to several top contenders, even sending a few drivers home early.

Kes was able to avoid heading to the garage or back to North Carolina, but had to hit the pits four times for repairs. He managed to stay on the lead lap before the race went back to green and was the last car on the lead lap when the race got back underway. Despite significant damage to the front and side of the Alliance Truck Parts Ford, Brad appeared to have the speed to make a run at the front. 

“We did avoid major damage in the first wreck and while it wasn’t perfect, our Alliance Truck Parts machine was still alright,” BK said.

After falling back to 34th for the restart on Lap 28, the Deuce gained 10 positions after just two trips around the track. However, with significant damage, including to the front valance, the No. 2 eventually ran into trouble, lost the draft and fell a lap behind the leader at lap 62. He was joined a lap down by Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

But as the race went on, the No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford seemed to rediscover the speed that made it a force in the opening practice of the weekend on Thursday. However, when the next caution came out on Lap 94, Brad was one spot short of getting the free pass back to the lead lap.

None of that mattered when Lap 20’s “Big One” got trumped by the “Huge One” on the subsequent restart.

It began when Kasey Kahne got loose in Row 3, taking out Brad’s Penske teammate Joey Logano and creating another ugly chain of mayhem. In total, 26 cars were involved in the wreck.

Yet again, Brad looked like he might luck out and skirt his way up through the gargantuan wreck. But after taking contact from behind, BK was bounced around like a pinball before sliding up the track side-by-side with Danica Patrick. 

“

[When] the second wreck happened, I thought I was going to make it through,” BK recalled afterward. “Then someone hit me from behind and we sustained more damage.”

Both Kes’ No. 2 and Patrick’s 10 drove away from the wreck with a few nicks but others were far less fortunate, namely Kyle Busch, whose car came to rest upside down. Busch had to remain in his car while it was flipped by over by NASCAR personnel. 

Though engines were only turned off for five minutes, the race was halted shortly thereafter at Lap 109 as new storm clouds rolled in and ir once again began to rain. Cars were pulled off the track and covered at Lap 112 as the Air Titan track driers came back out. The machines went to work for an hour of track drying, but the effort proved to be in vain as rain continued to fall and the race was eventually deemed final.

Ford driver Aric Almirola joined Brad and Carl Edwards to make it three straight victories for Ford Racing and Roush Yates Engines. BK finished 18th, as the first car a lap down, while Logano was 17th, the last car on the lead lap.

Fortunately for BK, the wacky afternoon affected most of the Championship contenders. None of the Top 10 drivers in the Sprint Cup Standings finished inside the Top 10 at Daytona, resulting in minimal movement atop the leaderboard. After claiming 26 points in the wild weekend, Brad’s positions of 3rd in the Chase grid and 4th in the points standings remained unchanged.

NEXT UP

The No. 2 crew will aim to regroup next week at one of BK’s best tracks, New Hampshire Motor Speedway for next Sunday’s Camping World RV Sales 301.

Brad has five career Top 6 finishes at NHMS, including four of the last five trips for the Cup Series to Loudon. He also has two starts from the pole in nine career Cup Series races at New Hampshire, including last year’s Camping World RV Sales 301. He finished that race in fourth and finished 11th in the fall race at Loudon last year.

The weekend begins on Friday with morning practice at 11:30 a.m. ET followed by qualifying at 4:30 p.m. ET, both to be seen on Fox Sports 1. Another practice session kicks off Saturday at NHMS, at 9 a.m. ET and teams get one final tune-up with final practice at 11:30 a.m. Those session can also be seen on FS1.

Coverage of the Camping World RV Sales 301 on Sunday begins at Noon on TNT with “Countdown to Green.” The green flag is slated to fly at 1:15 p.m. ET.

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Last week at Kentucky, Brad became the series’ sixth multiple-race winner this season and locked his No. 2 Ford Fusion into the Chase for the Championship with the season’s most dominant performance. He led 199 of 267 laps, earned a perfect driver rating in the process and jumped to third in the Chase grid (fourth in points).

The No. 2 team carries momentum of different varieties into the Independence Day weekend at Daytona, and the 2012 Sprint Cup champion is anxious to return to the place where the 2014 season started, Daytona. 

“We’re glad to be in Daytona. This is a big race for us,” Brad said. “It’s Daytona. It’s that simple. What this track stands for in our sport is unparalleled. We’ve been really close to getting a win here, but always seem to come up a little bit short there at the end. But I think we’ll have a shot at it again. Daytona, especially the 500 weekend, is one of those weekends where winning is kind of like winning a championship. That’s forever. You get introduced by it, you get remembered by it, so I sure would like to join that club.”

Crew chief Paul Wolfe believes the team’s recent success combined with their familiarity with and preparation for Daytona could create a perfect storm of circumstances to lift Brad’s confidence to an all-time high.

“We ran well at Daytona back in February and on the heels of our recent performance, it is encouraging to be heading to Daytona this weekend,” he said. “We should be alright there and we are well positioned to keep our momentum going.”

The last time Sprint Cup was on the Florida coast, BK competed for a win in February’s Daytona 500. That too gives BK confidence this weekend, and if the No. 2 team’s speedway cars are any indicator, Kes has great odds to join Jimmie Johnson as the only drivers to hit Victory Lane three times in 2014.

“This team builds incredible speedway cars,” Brad said. “We ran strong here back in February.”

Indeed, the No. 2 was one of the best cars in the field for the season opening Daytona 500. BK was a strong green-white checkered flag restart away from starting the year in Victory Lane, and though had to settle for third place, that in itself was his best-ever result at Daytona and the second top-five result of his career at DIS.

Wolfe noted that Team Penske’s speedway program has continued to grow over the last few years and now ranks as one of the elite groups in the sport.

“Since I’ve come to Cup, our speedway cars are probably the strongest part of our program,” Paul said. “We truly do have cars that are capable of winning at the speedways. I know everyone thinks they can win at them, but we actually do have great speedway cars.”

That success continued in Thursday’s opening practice session as BK and the No. 2 team were fourth fastest with a best lap time of 44.605 seconds at an average speed of 201.771 miles per hour. After laying down that fast lap, Brad noted the importance of doing so with rain threatening both the second practice session on Thursday and Friday’s qualifying session.

“The car is really fast and we put up a good lap in case qualifying gets rained out tomorrow,” Kes said. “Everybody is just trying to put down a really big number and I was shocked we ran that fast a time to be quite honest, but that’s what it’s going to take in case

[qualifying] gets rained out tomorrow to start up front. We have a really good qualifying average going and I didn’t want to blow it here at Daytona.”

This year, Team Penske has had fast cars everywhere, especially in qualifying where Brad has doubled his career total in Sprint Cup poles this season. He entered the 2014 season with three poles, but is up to six after acing the new knockout qualifying format at Phoenix, Dover and Kentucky. Kes also has established a single-season best and series-high with nine front-row starts so far.

Team Penske’s manpower has pushed the Deuce to four top-three finishes in the past five races, the only blemish coming at Sonoma’s troublesome road course.

“The No. 2 Team Penske crew has been consistently executing at a high level, as our recent results show,” Brad said. “All of these factors bode well for us this weekend in the Alliance Truck Parts Ford at Daytona.”

As BK noted, he and the Deuce will don the bright yellow of sponsor Alliance Truck Parts at Daytona. This marks the third of eight races for Alliance as the lead sponsor, in its first year as a lead sponsor on the Deuce. The previous appearances coming in Brad’s third place finish at Phoenix and at Sonoma.

No matter what colors Kes sports, red won’t be one of them this weekend.

The well-publicized cut he suffered while opening a champagne bottle in celebration of his Quaker State 400 win hasn’t affected Brad’s ability to drive. He was able to test the hand in testing this week at the Milwaukee Mile and came away now worse for wear. The stitches may even come out pending a final pre-race examination. Despite being right-hand dominant, Kes assured afterward that the injury won’t affect his performance.

“My hand is a little sore, but it’s not too bad. Ideally, the stitches will come out before the race,” BK said. “In terms of it affecting my ability to drive, it won’t bother me at all. While I am right handed, I drive left handed, if that makes sense. On top of that, Daytona is probably the easiest place that we go in terms of the amount of load on the driver’s hands. It’s never fun getting hurt or getting stitches for that matter, but with the right perspective it can serve as a motivator. We saw that back when I hurt my ankle a couple years back.”

A positive result at Daytona with eight races remaining before the Chase could prove key for Kes. After clinching a spot in the Chase, he’s more focused than ever on how he’s going to finish the season, looking to recapture the big prize he won two years ago.

“I turned 30, and I’m going through a bit of a midlife crisis,” he said at Kentucky. “I want to win another championship. I don’t want to win just one … the urgency is now.”

Despite being one of the rare Sprint Cup champs to miss out on the Chase the following year, a second championship in three years would wipe that from the collective racing memory.

“I don’t want to be a guy that contends for a championship every three or four years. I want to do it each and every year and I know that opportunity is here, it’s present and I want to make the most of it.”

Brad will be out and about in Daytona before Saturday night’s race. Thursday he’ll don his service hat by bartending at a few spots for Miller Lite on the Ocean Walk. Starting at 9:30 p.m. ET, BK will make appearances at Wing House, Sloppy Joe’s and Mai Tai’s.

The quest for the early track position begins with qualifying Friday at 5 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

TNT’s coverage of Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 kicks off with Countdown to Green at 6:30 p.m. ET. and the green flag is slated for 7:50 p.m. ET.

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Starting Position

Anyone who says where you start at Daytona doesn’t mean anything is wrong. While it’s true that you can work from the back and come to the front with ease, it doesn’t lower the risk of getting torn up early in the race. Just putting a little effort into putting down a hot lap can dramatically affect your 400 mile race.

Changing Lanes

It seems easy on a highway doing 60, but when you triple the speed, it gets a little tougher. To change a lane you’ll need a well handling car, advice from your spotter, and cooperation from the competition. One slight mistake can end in a day like Talladega in May, one day we don’t want to relive.

Falling in Line

It seems simple when you come off a rolling start, but sometimes getting in line and catching a draft can be a challenge at the “plate” tracks. Without a strong draft, your lap times can suffer from 2-3 seconds per lap.

Controlling Your Aggression

Yes, all these drivers want to lead every inch of the race, but it’s been proven time and time again that their wishes don’t come true. As fun as it may be to race 4 wide on Lap 10, it’s usually decided to save that for later in the race.

Check the Mirrors

With a track so big, there will be some blind spots that your spotter won’t be able to find. Some lines will move faster than others, and it’s the responsibility of the driver to make judgements when the spotter can’t. Even when the spotter makes a call, the driver still needs to check and see if the hole is open.
 

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After winning the Coors Light Pole Award on Friday, Team Penske fans were delivered with unfavorable news. Crew Chief Paul Wolfe would not be able to sit atop the pit box. After becoming quite the fixture among the #2crew, Wolfe is one of the most vital elements of the winning combination.

As of Saturday morning, this backup was named. The backup needed would have to fill Wolfe’s massive shoes as Crew Chief to one of the sports most popular drivers, Brad Keselowski. Greg Erwin, former Crew Chief to Greg Biffle in the Sprint Cup Series, and to Sam Hornish, Jr. in the Nationwide Series will step up to the top of the No.2 pit box, along with some help from Race Engineer Brian Wilson.

As those weeks were the only time Keselowski has been separated from Wolfe, it made me realize and have a deeper appreciation for what Wolfe does, and how he does it. 

While on suspension last year, interim Crew Chief Kevin Buskirk filled in for Wolfe at Darlington, and both Charlotte weekends. And while I agree that it’s not an easy task to hop up to the most challenging position outside of the racecar, all three of his races did not go as planned, ending with consecutive finishes outside of 30th place. As those weeks were the only time Keselowski has been separated from Wolfe, it made me realize and have a deeper appreciation for what Wolfe does, and how he does it. It also made me nervous for Sunday’s 312 lap race in the desert.

As it turns out, I shouldn’t have been nervous at all. With a total of five wins, and 39 Top 5 finishes calling the shots, Erwin is no novice as a Crew Chief. And come to think of it, this wasn’t like Wolfe’s suspension where he wasn’t permitted any communication to the race team. Wolfe was still able to share his ideas and strategies with Erwin via text messaging. Outside of the one jumbled up pit sequence towards the ¾ mark of the race, Erwin’s calls and Keselowski’s driving allowed the Deuce to remain in the Top 5 for a majority of the event. It seemed as if right off the bat, that both of their personalities meshed so well, almost up to par with Keselowski and Wolfe.  Although the car wasn’t quite up to where BK wanted it all race, there’s no doubt that Erwin was able to steadily improve the handling of the 3400 pound beast machine. And it was proven on the final restart where we saw Brad make a march through the field, even taking second place at one point.

I cannot finish this without congratulating Paul & Aleah Wolfe on the birth of their son. Like Darrell Waltrip mentioned during the race, that moment of his life is one that will mean more than any race win or championship out there. The real question is how long until we see baby Caden with some #2crew gear on?

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With multiple starts, Brad somehow still has yet to win in the thrilling and exciting series, but hopes to change that this week at Bristol. He has four second place finishes, and will be looking to improve. If he can get it done, he and Bob Keselowski will be the first father-son duo to win in the series! Keselowski has been on a roll lately in other series, with four straight Nationwide Series wins, and excellent runs in the Cup. Brad is looking to do the sweep this weekend at the famous fish bowl, but he isn’t the only Cup regular looking to do so. Kyle Busch is also planning on going for the sweep at Bristol, and will probably be Brad’s biggest competition.

If he can get it done, he and Bob Keselowski will be the first father-son duo to win in the series.

When the green flag is thrown to start this highly anticipated race, things will more than likely escalate quickly, and thankfully, Brad knows Bristol very well. He knows how to drive it and how to stay out of trouble until the end. I’m very optimistic that we’ll see his first win.

Unlike most weeks, the truck series race will be run on Wednesday night, a nice mid-week treat for race fans! I’m hoping for a great run for Brad, Ryan Blaney and Team BKR. Brad has a lot riding on his shoulders for this race (of course, we all know he doesn’t let anything get to him). If he can win on Wednesday, he will have finally won in his own BKR equipment, which I know would feel like a huge accomplishment.

Brad will be in the No. 19 Draw-Tite Ford F-150 at Bristol. The race will be shown on Fox Sports 1 (Speed for Canadians) at 8:00pm just after “NCWTS Set-Up.” The green flag is set for 8:16pm, so don’t miss it.

It’s Bristol, Baby!

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