But after winning the first stage on Saturday night and avoiding two major wrecks, BK’s hopes of repeating last year’s win were dashed early as he was unable to avoid a third incident sparked by a spinning Kevin Harvick. After finishing 31st, Brad looked at the bright side: His team brought yet another win-worthy machine to the track and tacked on another point for the playoffs.

“Tonight was a ‘glass half full’ night,” he said. “We won another stage and picked up another playoff point, but I really thought we had a Detroit Genuine Parts Ford that could have won this race.”

Starting the unpredictable 400-mile event from third place, his track position allowed him to quickly work his way to the lead in the opening segment of the race. Claiming the lead on lap 5, he was able to maintain it when Stage 1 ended on lap 40.

Pitting under the Stage yellow, the 2 Crew wound up P10, behind those who stayed out and some others that only took two tires. With a Playoff point, and 10 Stage points under their belt already, they knew their driver has a fast car, but the track position became too much to overcome.

Once restarted on lap 47, BK held station right outside the Top 10. Riding there until a Jeffrey Earnhardt caution on lap 49, crew chief Paul Wolfe called in for a two-tire stop and to top off the tank with fuel.

The first Big One of Saturday night’s race wiped out some top running cars, nearly taking the Deuce along with it on lap 70.

Barely squeaking through the pileup, the Michigan native dodged another wreck 20 laps later. With attrition coming into play, Kes just had to survive to score a solid finish. The third multi-car incident struck on lap 102, and this time he couldn’t avoid it. Barely clipped in the right rear after Harvick went spinning, the DGP machine took a few spins with what appeared to be no worse than some flat-spotted Goodyear Eagles.

As it turned out, the damage was a bit worse. The rear quarterpanel was buckled to the point where it almost immediately sliced the right-rear tire. The issue forced the team to change right-side tires under green-flag conditions on lap 113, only five laps before the same tire blew out in turn 3, causing the car to crash by itself.

Leaving Daytona with a P31 finish after leading 35 laps, it certainly wasn’t the night the Miller 2 Crew wanted after showing so much promise. Credited by the driver as one of the most intense plate races in recent years, he attributes it to the rubber on the track.

“It was a much different race tonight that it has been in the past, particularly with the shorter stages and softer tires,” BK said.

Brad remained in fifth in the Monster Energy Cup Series standings, and thanks to his Stage 1 win, he’s tied with Kyle Larson for third with 13 playoff points.

Moving forward, the Team Penske crew looks ahead to another track where it can defend its crown: Kentucky Speedway. Brad was won three of the six Cup Series events at Kentucky, including last year’s running, and he’ll try to make it four on the second consecutive Saturday night race. The Quaker State 400 kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.

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Beginning at this weekend’s NASCAR race at Daytona International Speedway (DIS), fans and families of service men and women can visit CheckeredFlagFoundation.org to nominate a person that has sacrificed for our country. Nominees will have their name displayed on the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Phoenix on November 12, Veterans Day weekend across the United States. The special promotion will run through the MENCS regular-season finale at Richmond International Raceway on September 9.

The cost is $100 per nomination, which is fully tax-deductible, and all proceeds go to the Checkered Flag Foundation. In addition to being recognized on the race car, each nominee will receive a piece of the No. 2 Ford Fusion’s sheet metal that shows their name, along with a photo of the car and a letter of thanks from Keselowski. Fans can use the social media hashtag, #Tribute2Veterans, to highlight their nominee online as well.

“The Checkered Flag Foundation (CFF) celebrates veterans and they work to not only honor them but hopefully enrich their lives through various programs,” said Keselowski. “This unique fundraiser will go directly to those programs, while also providing a one-of-a-kind experience to have veterans virtually ride along with me at Phoenix as we try to earn a trip to the Championship 4 the following weekend at Homestead. Whether through the CFF or the Team Penske relationship with the Paralyzed Veterans of America, we are always looking for ways to give back to those that have helped defend our freedom. I think this is another great example of partners working together for a great cause.”

Keselowski is proud of his patriotism, and to make this holiday weekend even more special, the 2012 MENCS champion and last year’s Coke Zero 400 race winner has teamed up with DIS to provide 200 race tickets for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 to local military members and their families. The group will be treated to a private meet and greet with Keselowski and DIS president Chip Wile prior to the race.

“Brad Keselowski has always been a big supporter of our Armed Forces,” said Wile. “It’s great to see last year’s Coke Zero 400 champion utilizing Daytona International Speedway and this July 4th race weekend as a platform to have local military personnel enjoy the excitement of NASCAR on the high banks.”

About Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation

Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation honors and assists those who have sacrificed greatly for our country. Since 2010, the foundation has supported over 50 organizations and individuals in order to help veterans and first responders during their road to recovery. There are numerous ways for those interested to become involved. Visit www.CheckeredFlagFoundation.org for details.

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As is his custom, Kes grabbed the American Flag for a last year’s 4th of July weekend celebration, and he’s excited for the opportunity to once again do a Star Spangled burnout at the sport’s most famous track.

“It’s awesome to be able to celebrate our country’s independence down in Daytona Beach at one of the most important tracks to NASCAR,” BK said. “It’s a Saturday night race, which everyone seems to enjoy, both drivers and fans.”

Bouncing off an unexpected P3 finish last week, his best ever at Sonoma Raceway, Kes looks to keep the hot streak alive under the lights in Daytona. And as the defending winner of the Coke Zero 400, Kes wants nothing more than to extend his restrictor plate legacy. Qualifying fifth in 2016, it only took nine laps for the No. 2 to become No. 1—a spot he held for 115 of 160 laps, including the last one.

While it was the Michigan driver’s fifth career restrictor plate win, it was the first on Daytona’s 2.5-mile circuit.

“I doubted myself here, and we came here for the 500, and quite honestly, we ran like dog crap,” BK said a year ago. “My team worked on it. I didn’t give up on them. I believed in them and they went to work and put together a better car and it really showed today with a great effort for our whole team. I’m really proud of everybody.”

Back behind the wheel of the Detroit Genuine Parts Ford this weekend, which he brought to Victory Lane in last year’s Coke Zero 400, Brad hopes to keep the strong results alive with the scheme. Since last year’s DIS breakthrough, BK wheeled the car once at Richmond in the spring, scoring a P2 finish and a Stage win while leading over a quarter of the race.

While Brad will be looking for just his second win at Daytona, he’ll be in search of his sixth restrictor-plate victory. With four wins to his name at Daytona’s sister track, Talladega Superspeedway, the 2012 Champion says there is less to carry over than most think, recognizing the nuances that separate the two tracks.

“I think Daytona and Talladega have long been two different tracks,” Kes says. “It is wider and a lot harder to block and control the pace at Talladega. That is not a bad thing.”

Most importantly, Brad’s goal this weekend is to display our nation’s colors. As the race falls on Fourth of July weekend, the ever-patriotic driver embraces his chance to proudly wave the Red, White, and Blue under the lights at Daytona.

“I like to think that I’m a pretty patriotic guy,” he says.

The 17th race of 2017 marks the transition to the NBC family of networks, as NBC will broadcast the Coke Zero 400 live. Tune into the action on Saturday, July 1, at 7 p.m. ET and see if BK can go back-to-back in Daytona’s summer race.

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So that’s exactly what the 2 Crew did. The No. 2 Detroit Genuine Parts Ford team was mired in the back for much of the afternoon but eventually scraped up a ninth-place finish, breaking a two-race spell outside of the Top 10.

“It was a lot of work,” Brad said after the race. “We weren’t as fast as we wanted to be. When we had green-flag pit stops, we seemed to be really fast with the Detroit Genuine Parts Ford. On restarts, on yellow flags, we just kept getting stuck in dirty air and couldn’t move anywhere.”

It was a difficult day for Brad, but he’s left in a decent position for the start of the Contender Round, where only the top eight drivers will advance. Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch all encountered trouble on the day, and BK currently sits eighth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings—just above the Eliminator Round cutoff and six points ahead of ninth-place Ryan Newman.

The race was originally slated to run on Saturday evening, but rain postponed it until Sunday morning. Brad qualified in position No. 13 but the dirty air and restart issues gave him trouble immediately.

Jeb Burton wrecked on the very first lap under the sun at Charlotte. On the ensuing restart, Kes fell back to the 17th position, and it took him 26 laps to move back to 15th before NASCAR threw out the competition caution at lap 26.

After a nice four-tire stop by the 2 Crew, Brad was off pit road three spots up in 12th for the lap 30 restart. However, he couldn’t make it stick. He slid two spots back on the ensuing restart. Under green, he made up some ground, passing Jimmie Johnson up one spot before taking another when Kasey Kahne had a brush with the wall at lap 40.

BK was passed back by Johnson at lap 59, and two laps later, the issue with Kahne arose again. The No. 5 hit the wall and the race’s third caution came out. Brad had reported that the No. 2 was too tight entering and was lacking grip exiting Charlotte’s corners, and so Paul Wolfe’s crew fitted him with an air pressure and wedge adjustment on the stop.

But the tough restarts struck again. He slid back to 16th, where he remained until Dale Jr. hit the wall at lap 72 to bring out caution No. 4. After another round of adjustments and four fresh tires, Brad restarted 14th and radioed to his team some words of inspiration.

“It’s gonna be a blue-collar day,” Brad said. “Let’s keep working boys.”

Brad was right. The black and blue Deuce was swallowed up on the following restart, falling all the way back to the 25th position. BK kept working from there, passing Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Greg Biffle, Paul Menard and Jeff Gordon in succession to take 21st. However soon after, another issue that plagued Brad all day reared its head: the mid-run lull.

BK was passed back by Gordon at lap 96, and he fought his car all the way until the green-flag pit stops came at lap 123. The 2 Crew was outstanding all day, and this time they allowed Brad to gain about five spots. When the pit stops cycled through at lap 135, BK was in 16th.

Midway through the run, Brad spent several laps trying to get around Jamie McMurray and into the Top 15, but the Deuce continued to struggle in dirty air. He ended up losing a spot to Gordon once again as a result.

The fifth caution arose a lap 166, and the 2 Crew came through again. BK pitted from P17 and was off in 14th.

“Doing a helluva job down there,” Brad radioed to his crew. “Keep it up.”

This time, Brad backed his crew up and turned in a tremendous restart. He jumped to the outside line and passed Gordon, Newman, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Austin Dillion up into the Top 10 for the first time all race.

But just when Brad and the Deuce were getting some momentum, the typical Chase race adversity halted them. A Kenseth blown tire brought out a caution at lap 177, and Justin Allgaier blew an engine on the ensuing restart, dropping fluid all over the track. NASCAR workers came and put speedy dry on the mess, but just before the restart, Brad reported over the radio that there was still speedy dry left on the outside line.

He restarted in the Top 10, but he was one of a number of drivers to hit the debris and slide back. Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch were among several drivers to complain about the incident and the track conditions afterward.

Only after Brad fell to 13th did NASCAR throw the eighth caution to finish the cleanup. On the following run, BK swapped positions throughout with Kenseth, Newman, Gordon and Bowyer before pitting under green at lap 230. Another solid stop had Brad back up to the Top 10 when Kenseth hit the wall to bring out the ninth and final caution of the day at lap 240.

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BK was just beyond the cutline, forcing him to take his black and blue No. 2 Detroit Genuine Parts Ford Fusion out for another lap in the second round. He crossed the start/finish line with the exact same time—down to the thousandth of a second—as Carl Edwards: 28.181 seconds.

The two drivers tied for the last spot in the final round, position 12, but the tiebreaker went back to the point total after the Challenger Round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, so Edwards got the nod.

“We were 12th, it’s just that somebody else was 12th too,” Brad told NBC. “We’re 12B. We unloaded

[the car] today not real good, and then Paul Wolfe and the team worked on it and we’ve gotten a lot better from where we unloaded. So I’m pretty optimistic, but still certainly want to be a little bit faster. We’ll keep working on it. We’ve got a day of practice tomorrow and 13th is close enough to see the front.”

That puts Brad one spot behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. and two behind the championship favorite, Kevin Harvick, in the running order for Saturday night’s main event. Only three non-Chase drivers—Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson and Aric Almirola—will start head of Brad. And only two Contender Round qualifiers—Martin Truex Jr. in P15 and Jeff Gordon in P22—will start behind him.

Rough starting position hasn’t held Brad back at Charlotte before. In 2013, he started in P23 and won. And in 2012, he started P24 and took the checkered flag in fifth.

His final two practice sessions will come at 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday. He’ll also be busy on Friday piloting Team Penske’s No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Fusion in the XFINITY Series. He’s running his first NSCS/NXS double in two months.

His last double came at Watkins Glen, where he finished second in NXS and seventh in Cup. He has notched an average finish of 4.2 in his last five Cup races where he also ran in the XFINITY Series. The NXS’s Race for the Cure 300 will go green shortly after 8 p.m. Friday night.

The primary focus for Brad, however, is starting the NSCS Contender Round off on the right foot. All 12 remaining drivers are tied with 3,000 points, and only eight drivers will move on from this set of three races.

Last year in this race, race Kes started in 17th and finished 16th in the Detroit Genuine Parts Ford. However, this race was the start of a dramatic Chase with Brad at the center. After the race, Denny Hamlin pursued BK in the garage and had to be restrained by his crew. Meanwhile, Matt Kenseth ambushed Brad between haulers, sparking a brief brawl between the two crews.

This spring’s race at Charlotte passed without incident. BK was dominating the All-Star Race before being flagged for speeding on pit road, which relegated him to a ninth-place finish. He was also solid in the Coca-Cola 600, where he started sixth and finished seventh.

That was one of four Top 10 finishes for Brad over his Cup career at Charlotte. Of course, his best finish at the 1.5-mile quad oval came in 2013. In a trying season, BK came to this very event without a win, and he captured his first ever NSCS victory at Charlotte. It was one of the most memorable wins of his career, and it came as a consolation prize for an otherwise frustrating campaign.

He’ll enter this race with that feather in his cap, along with some strong results at tracks similar to CMS. As Brad has long contended, the 1.5-mile, intermediate tracks are vital to winning the championship, and the 1.5-mile paved surface with 24-degree banking at Charlotte is one of the keys to victory.

Brad has been the model of consistency at the mile-and-a-halfs this year. At Charlotte and the tracks similar to it—Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas, Kentucky, Las Vegas, and Texas—he boasts an average finish of seventh. He has finished in the Top 10 in all seven 1.5-mile races this year, including an eight-place result at Chicagoland Speedway to start the Chase.

“I’m really optimistic about it,” Brad said. “I felt like the last few tracks of a similar nature we’ve run really, really competitively at – it’s not a guarantee that we’re gonna run well this time, but I feel like we’ve got a strong shot at it in the Detroit Genuine Parts Ford.”

After two practice sessions and the NXS race on Friday, Brad will put his black and blue No. 2 to work at Charlotte. The Bank of America 500 is set to go green shortly after 7 p.m. ET on Saturday night. The race will be broadcast on NBC.

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Brad was running third late in last week’s Daytona 500, when a rare blown engine in the Deuce ended his day. It was just the second time the Team Penske machine had lost an engine during a race since BK took over the No. 2 in 2011.

Coincidentally, the series now shifts to the location of that other engine failure, Atlanta Motor Speedway, where Kes and crew have had some tough luck in recent years. That blown engine occurred in 2013 with the Deuce running out in front at Atlanta and cost Brad a shot at the win. Then last season, Brad again had the No. 2 Ford Fusion running strong near the front at AMS when he was caught up in a late wreck, giving him his only DNF of last season. But despite their annual struggles at Atlanta and last week’s setback at Daytona, BK and the No. 2 crew are ready to leave those rough results in the past and focus on winning this weekend.

“I am ready to race. We ran well here at Atlanta last year and I feel as though we have a good baseline package.” Brad said. “It is going to be nice to get a few hours of testing in prior to the actual start of the weekend. The Detroit Genuine Parts Ford crew is off to a strong start and we are looking forward to getting our “regular season” started after a rough Daytona.”

Brad looks to gain ground and climb the leaderboard at a track where, if it were not for poor luck in his last two races, he would most certainly be averaging a top-10 finish. Outside of those two rough finishes, which mired him in 35th and 39th place results the last two seasons at Atlanta, Kes has traditionally been strong at the 1.54-mile Hampton, Ga. track.

In six total Sprint Cup races at Atlanta Motor Speedway, BK has two top-10 finishes, including a third-place finish in 2012 on the way to his Sprint Cup Championship. One year earlier, he finished sixth after starting in P14.

Last August, Brad qualified well, started second and ran near the front of the pack all day in the Oral-B USA 500 at AMS. He did make a mistake on pit road, overshooting his pit stall, but he worked through it and fought his way back to the top five. However, with less than 30 laps remaining, he got caught behind an indecisive Denny Hamlin, who cut his No. 11 in front of Josh Wise in the lapped No. 98 car to get to pit road. This forced Wise to check up, causing Brad to make critical contact with the No. 98 car, effectively ending his day.

He’ll hope for some better luck as he takes the No. 2 Detroit Genuine Parts Ford Fusion into the second event of the season. His Penske teammate Joey Logano had that good luck last week in Daytona, and rode it to a season-opening win in the Daytona 500 that has all but already secured Logano’s place in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Conditions have certainly been cooler this weekend than teams are accustomed to at the track nicknamed “Hotlanta.” This season marks the first time since the Cup Series cut from two visits to Atlanta down to one in 2011 that AMS has hosted a race this early in the season. Since the move to one race at Atlanta, that race has always been contested in the sweltering late summer. Previous to that change, AMS had hosted the fourth race of the year for several years, but never has Atlanta Motor Speedway held the second race of the season before.

Perhaps that explains some of the hijinks and strange happenings at the track over the course of this past weekend. First there was the case of the stolen cup car, when the unmarked trailer containing Travis Kvapil’s No. 44 car was taken from a hotel parking lot. The incident forced Kvapil and Team Extreme Racing to withdraw from the event. (the car was later found abandoned in the woods). Then on Friday, inspection issues forced 14 teams, including the No. 48, No. 24, No. 20 and No. 14 to miss qualifying for Sunday’s QuikTrip Folds of Honor 500.

Things calmed down a bit on Saturday, but the day wasn’t without some controversy. In a morning qualifying session, Brad was initially ruled to have won the pole for Saturday’s Camping World Truck Series Hyundai Construction Equipment 200 at AMS. But after tape of qualifying was reviewed by NASCAR, BK’s No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford F-150 was ruled to have crossed the start/finish line to start his pole-winning lap just seconds after the session ended, and the lap was disallowed. Of course, keeping with the strange circumstances of the weekend, BK found out about the disqualification while on the air for FOX Sports, making his debut as a guest analyst for the XFINITY Series Race. Later on Saturday, BK went on to start the NCWTS race from 10th in his Team BKR No. 29 truck, and finished 15th.

But while things have been going haywire elsewhere, the Team Penske Cup machines have been getting better throughout the weekend, which should make for a strong finish to the weekend on Sunday in Atlanta as both Brad and Logano seek to become just the fourth Team Penske Driver to take the checkered flag in Atlanta since Penske started competing there in 1972.

The weekend started slow with testing at Atlanta on Thursday, where the No. 2 was 22nd fastest in the first session and 21st in the second test session, Kes’ best time was a 29.806-second trip around AMS at an average speed of just over 186 MPH. But after some adjustments to the Black and Blue Detroit Genuine Parts Ford Fusion, the Deuce had even more speed in came out of Friday’s lone eighth-fastest with a time of 28.901 seconds at an average speed of 191.827 MPH.

BK went on to reach the final round of knockout qualifying at Atlanta, but finished 12th with a time of 28.965 seconds at at 191.403 miles per hour. He’ll start Sunday’s race from Row 6. Meanwhile, teammate Joey Logano remained red-hot and drove the No. 22 to the pole. Brad was 26th in Happy Hour final practice on Sunday at 29.907 seconds and 185.375 mph, but he enters Sunday’s race with his eyes fixed on earning his first win at Atlanta in the Cup series, and the knowledge that the speed exists in the Penske program to get him there.

Coverage of the QuikTrip Folds of Honor 500 begins at 12:30 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX with the green flag slated to fly at 1:16 p.m. ET

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At No. 6 are a series of events where the pressure created by the new Chase format boiled over with BK in the middle of the drama in Charlotte and Texas.

No. 6: Chase Drama

After several seasons under a 10-race playoff format that had 12 qualified drivers accumulate points throughout with the highest total declared the winner, NASCAR decided to overhaul the Sprint Cup Series postseason format prior to the 2014 season.

The new 10-race playoff featured 16 drivers and four rounds. Each of the first three rounds of the playoffs featured a three-race stretch after which four drivers were eliminated and the points reset. The new format culminated in a one-race finale with four remaining teams vying for the coveted Sprint Cup.

The new Chase for the Sprint Cup brought plenty of drama to the postseason in NASCAR’s top series, just as NASCAR intended.

The new format made it so that a poor finish in any of the three races in each round could be enough to sink a driver—but it also provided the drivers with a way out. A win in any of the three races would punch their ticket to the next round—so drivers raced fervently for victories each and every weekend.

As the postseason rolled along, more drivers were eliminated and the drama only swelled, both on and off the track—and Brad Keselowski found himself getting under the skin of several competitors, resulting in two post-fight fracases.

CLASH IN CHARLOTTE

Before the new Chase format debuted, Brad predicted that Round 2—the Contender Round featuring races in Kansas, Charlotte and Talladega—would be the most treacherous of the three-round fight to the finish.

“The contender bracket, that one scares the (expletive) out of me. Kansas and Talladega are just two tracks where they have been wreck-fests,” Brad said before the postseason began. “The only way you can really feel comfortable with that bracket is if you go to Charlotte and win the race. I think that bracket will break some hearts and that is the most concerning thing to us.”

The Contender bracket was off to a rough start for Brad after a blown tire at Kansas Speedway ruined a promising day and dropped him to the cellar of the points standings.

With a restrictor plate race at Talladega Superspeedway—essentially NASCAR’s version of a crapshoot—looming in the final race of the round, Kes approached Charlotte as a must-win situation, and he wasn’t the only driver with that outlook.

Brad started in position No. 17 for the Bank of America 500, making it an uphill battle from the beginning.

The No. 2 Detroit Genuine Parts team made tweaks throughout the night and had the Light Blue Deuce in position to fight for the win.

But beginning with a restart at lap 272, things got intense over the final stretch of the race.

Brad was running alongside Denny Hamlin at the front of the pack, and was clipped in the right rear by Matt Kenseth, who was attempting to make a pass on the high side. After the contact, Kes fell back in the field and Kenseth fell off the lead lap.

Not long after, and just ahead of a green-white-checkered finish, Kenseth took exception to the earlier contact and bumped the nose of Brad’s No. 2 while the race was still under yellow. The contact caused Brad to fall back to a P16 finish, and it also played a role in him making contact with Denny Hamlin. Kenseth finished in P19 and Hamlin finished ninth, as all three took a hit in the Chase standings.

“Through the whole sequence of events – I think the 20 car got in back of me on one of the restarts (at lap 271)– it was just a racing deal and I wasn’t mad at him,” Brad said, explaining his side of a wild night race at Charlotte. “But when the last yellow (flag) came out he got the wave around and when he came by he swung at my car and tore the whole right front off of it. When we restarted fifth with no right front on it, we fell all the way back to 16th and it ruined our day. That gave us a big Chase hurt, which is unfortunate.”

After the race, the stress of the Chase was on full display.

During the cool-down lap, Hamlin showed his displeasure and brake-checked BK. Kes responded by bumping the left-rear of Hamlin’s No. 11.

“I don’t know what that was all about and he swung and hit at my car. So I figured if we were gonna play car wars under yellow and after the race, I’ll join too,” Brad said immediately after the events unfolded. “Those guys can dish it out, but they can’t take it and I gave it back to them. And now they want to fight. I don’t know what’s up with that.”

Next, as the field drove down pit road and back to the garage, Brad traded paint with Kenseth, and the two ran into the rear of Tony Stewart, who retaliated by reversing and slamming into the nose of the No. 2.

BK then drove through the garage, where he was met by Hamlin, both drivers still in their vehicles. As Kes tried to drive away from Hamlin and back to his hauler, he briefly spun his wheels, leaving burnout marks in the garage.

Shortly after, Hamlin exited his car and attempted to confront Brad, but he was held back by his crew members. Kes walked away from the situation and back to his hauler.

As he walked down the alley between his and teammate Joey Logano’s hauler, he was confronted by Kenseth. The two wrestled for a few seconds before No. 2 crew chief Paul Wolfe pulled Kenseth away. Pushing and shoving between crew members of the No. 2 and No. 20 teams ensued for nearly a minute before the fight dissipated.

The incident was a signal that the Chase was truly on.

LONE STAR SHOWDOWN

Brad went on to pull of a miraculous win at Talladega and advance to the Eliminator Round, where the drama only increased. With eight drivers remaining, each felt that their shot at a title was so close, but still so far away—and that each spot in each race mattered that much more.

Just like in the Contender Round, Brad’s start to the Eliminator Round was marked by bad luck. A broken part at Martinsville Speedway ended BK’s hopes for a solid finish and ensured that the 2012 Champion’s quest for a title would be anything but mundane.

The following week at Texas, one of the wildest moments in NASCAR history took place.

On the first of two green-white-checkered finishes, Brad restarted behind in Row 2 behind Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports teammates. During the reset, Gordon slid up the track, opening a window for Kes to drive through and attempt to take the lead.

Gordon quickly realized his mistake and tried to close the door on Brad, but instead he rubbed his right-rear tire against the No. 2. Seconds later, Gordon’s tire went down, pulling the trigger on another GWC restart, and ultimately resulting in Gordon’s P29 finish.

Brad went on to finish third, and immediately after the race, Gordon drove over to the 2 Crew’s pit stall and confronted Kes.

The two shared some words, and the argument appeared to be dissipating as Brad walked away from the No. 24 driver—until Kevin Harvick came into the picture.

The No. 4 driver and eventual Cup champion pushed Brad back toward Gordon, allowing the No. 24 driver to grab the collar of BK’s fire suit. When this happened, a brawl ensued.

Several crew members from Brad’s team, Gordon’s team and Kasey Kahne’s No. 5 team, were in the middle of the melee, along with reporters, NASCAR officials, photographers and others. Both BK and Gordon came way with facial lacerations and bruising.

The incident was the talk of the sport from then on out and all the way through the postseason banquet. But Brad, though embarrassed by the post-race fight, always was adamant that what he did on the track was the correct move with the championship on the line.

“The opportunity was there for the other individuals to get out of it scot-free and they didn’t capitalize on it. I hated it ruined their day, but I don’t feel bad or feel the need to apologize for laying it all out there and trying to win a race,” Brad said after the season. “A baby seal doesn’t want to get eaten by a whale, but a whale’s got to eat, you know? And then when he (gets eaten), should he be mad at the whale, or should he be mad he wasn’t the fastest swimmer?”

Brad certainly never took to the track looking for a fight, and he was never proud that he and his crew were involved in such extra curricular activities.

But there is no doubting that, no matter how ugly they might have been, the incidents in the Chase involving BK were some of the most exciting and attention-drawing moments, not only of this season, but in the recent history of the sport.

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Despite starting in 17th position in the Bank of America 500, Brad Keselowski worked his way to the lead on three separate occasions. But by the time the dust had settled at Charlotte Motor Speedway, BK was only able to bring home a heavily damaged No. 2 Detroit Genuine Parts Ford Fusion with a 16th place finish.

“First off, the Detroit Genuine Parts Ford was good today,” Brad said following the race. “I thought we were gonna have a fourth- or fifth-place run and just didn’t catch a break in so many different ways, but I’m really proud of everyone at Team Penske.”

It was an uphill battle from the start for Brad, as he and the No. 2 team used every second of track time they could during the week to find a winning package at the 1.5-mile quad oval.

A blown tire last week at Kansas Speedway—coupled with an unpredictable racetrack in Talladega Superspeedway looming next week before the Chase makes its cut for the Eliminator Round—made a win at Charlotte, or at least a top-five finish, almost a necessity.

However, the 2 Crew found themselves 31st after the first practice and just 17th in qualifying—just their second start outside of the Top 10 in the last 13 races. But the work began to pay off on Friday, as the Deuce recorded the seventh- and fifth-fastest times in the final two practice sessions.

Early in the race, Brad’s position remained relatively static as he reported loose handling and a lack of rear grip in the DGP Ford Fusion. A NASCAR-mandated competition caution at lap 25 allowed the No. 2 Crew its first opportunity for tweaks, and the chassis and air pressure adjustments made on that first stop paid dividends immediately.

BK restarted 15th at lap 30, but jumped into the top 10 just seven laps later. At the end of this green-flag run, Brad claimed the lead—for the ninth consecutive race—and earned a bonus point before making his second stop.

The No. 2 team made some more adjustments during that trip down pit road and afterward, the Light Blue Deuce began to take off.

With a stronger car, Kes became the aggressor and at lap 110, he bolted ahead of Kurt Busch, putting him into the Top 5 for the first time in the race. Just 10 laps later, he had cracked the top three. He even moved into the lead for the second time at Lap 189 and held it for two laps.

However, as track conditions changed and night fell on Charlotte Motor Speedway over the course of the 334-lap event, the DGP Ford became progressively looser, a condition that haunted Brad late in the race. As the trend continued, BK lost the lead again and dropped back to 10th place by lap 200.

Kes had faded to 12th at lap 240 just before a wreck involving his Penske teammate Joey Logano and Danica Patrick. While Logano regained control of his car, Patrick couldn’t and she made contact with Ryan Newman.

This set up a key strategy call for crew chief Paul Wolfe when the next caution flag flew at lap 266. But while the other leaders pitted, the No. 2 Crew elected to have BK, who was running in fourth, stay out and assume the lead. He held that advantage through the caution period from Lap 268 to 271, but upon the ensuing restart, the trouble that carried on well after the race was over began.

While he battled for the lead with Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 on that Lap 272 restart, Brad was clipped in the right-rear by Matt Kenseth, who was attempting to make a pass on the high side. Though it didn’t take either driver out of the race, the contact set in motion a hectic finish on and off the track.

After the contact, Brad lost the lead to Hamlin, and ultimately, both the No. 2 and Kenseth’s No. 20 fell off the lead lap. BK fell back due to the damage and his old tires and made his final pit stop off sequence under green with 37 laps to go. When the rest of the field cycled through green-flag stops, BK cycled back to the fringe of the Top 5. Though running on old tires as the race came to its conclusion, Brad fought hard to stay up front before the final yellow flag came out with seven laps left.

At that point, he appeared primed for a strong finish that would put him in better position going into the Contender Round’s final race at Talladega.

However, while the race was still under yellow ahead of a green-white-checkered finish, Kenseth made contact with the nose of the No. 2 while taking his wave around to the lead lap. The contact caused further damage to the Deuce going into the final restart and ultimately may have both cost BK a Top 5 finish and caused his late race issue with Hamlin.

“Through the whole sequence of events – I think the 20 car got in back of me on one of the restarts (at lap 271)– it was just a racing deal and I wasn’t mad at him,” Brad said, explaining his side of a wild night race at Charlotte. “But when the last yellow (flag) came out he got the wave around and when he came by he swung at my car and tore the whole right front off of it. When we restarted fifth with no right front on it, we fell all the way back to 16th and it ruined our day. That gave us a big Chase hurt, which is unfortunate.”

On this final green-white-checkered restart, BK was racing for every position he could muster, while dealing with a loose-handling Deuce thanks to the move by Kensrth under yellow. While attempting to maintain his position on the track and salavage a Top 10 finish, BK made slight contact with Hamlin, which caused both drivers to fall back even further. Eventually Hamlin’s No. 11 crossed in ninth and Kes finished 16th.

The middle-of-the-pack finish came just one day after Brad took first in the Nationwide Series BCBS Drive for the Cure 300 at Charlotte. Brad edged two Joe Gibbs Racing drivers—Kyle Busch and Kenseth—for the win that moved him into the Top 5 on the all-time Nationwide Series wins list.

However, he couldn’t parlay that momentum into Saturday night and earned just 29 points to bring his total to 3038. he heads to Talladega next Sunday 18 points behind ninth-place Kenseth and 19 points out of the eighth and final in the Eliminator round, currently held by Kasey Kahne.

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

After the race, during the cool-down lap, Hamlin expressed displeasure with the contact his No. 11 took from the No. 2 on the final restart and break-checked Brad.

Kes responded by bumping the left-rear of Hamlin.

“I don’t know what that was all about and he swung and hit at my car. So I figured if we were gonna play car wars under yellow and after the race, I’ll join too,” Brad said immediately after the events unfolded. “Those guys can dish it out, but they can’t take it and I gave it back to them. And now they want to fight. I don’t know what’s up with that.”

Then, as the field headed down pit road, BK found Kenseth looking to send a message that he wasn’t happy with the No. 20 hitting him under yellow before the last restart. Kes rubbed alongside the No. 20 Toyota and, in the process, the two bumped into the back of Tony Stewart.

In retaliation, Stewart gassed his car in reverse and caused heavy damage to the hood of Brad’s No. 2, also causing Brad to back into Patrick.

BK then drove to the garage, where he was met by Hamlin, both drivers still in their vehicles. As Kes tried to drive away from Hamlin to his own hauler, he briefly spun his wheels, leaving burnout marks in the garage.

Shortly after, Hamlin got out of his car and attempted to confront Brad, but was held back by his crew members while BK walked back to his own hauler.

He then walked down the alley between his and Logano’s hauler, where he was confronted from behind by Kenseth. Kenseth wrestled with Brad for a few seconds before No. 2 crew chief Paul Wolfe pulled Kenseth away. As the two drivers were separated, crew members from both sides jumped into the fracas, which lasted nearly a minute before dissipating.

The ordeal, from the frustrating finish to the altercations after, was a frustrating affair for the 2012 champion. The next day, he took to Twitter to explain his thoughts and feelings following the events in Charlotte.

NEXT UP

Brad now faces what is essentially a win-or-go-home situation as the series heads to Talladega for the final leg of the Contender Round.

The unpredictable nature of the restrictor-plate race at Talledega leaves very little room for error and a victory as BK’s only viable shot at advancing.

On the bright side, ‘Dega is one of just four tracks where Kes has multiple wins for his career. In 11 starts, he has two victories, six Top 10s and three Top 5s.

His first win at the track came in 2009 and was also his first career NSCS victory. He also won the 2012 spring run at Talladega on the way to his Cup Championship that season. However, BK hasn’t finished better than 15th in his last three starts at Dega.

He’ll look to break that trend and stay alive in the Chase Sunday. The Geico 500 is set for a 2 p.m. ET start and can be seen on ESPN.

RELATED ARTICLES

• Kenseth, Keselowski fight after Charlotte race (USA Today, Oct. 12, 2014)
• Disappointing 16^th place result for Keselowski (Team Penske, Oct. 12, 2014)
• Kenseth tangles with Keselowski in Charlotte (MotorSportsTalk, Oct. 11, 2014)
• Saturday night fight: Emotions spill over for Kenseth, Keselowski (Fox Sports, Oct. 11, 2014)
• Keselowski, Hamlin make contact in garage (NASCAR, Oct. 13, 2014)

The post Chase Tension Rises After 16th Place Finish At Charlotte appeared first on BradRacing.com | The Official Web Site of Brad Keselowski www.bk30beta.www.bk30beta.bradracing.com.

A blown tire at Kansas Speedway last week resulted in a 36th place finish that put Brad 22 points off the eighth-place cut line, giving him just two races to win or make up the points gap to move on to the Eliminator Round.

With the final race of the round coming next week at the always unpredictable and crash-filled Talladega Superspeedway, BK and the No. 2 team are preparing for the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway with the knowledge that a Saturday night victory is their best chance at qualifying for the next round—and they believe they have what it takes to complete the climb back to the top.

“The first thing that comes to mind is that we won this race last year. That is a nice confidence booster,” Brad said. “We have a strong intermediate track platform, and the No. 2 Detroit Genuine Parts team has been performing well this season.”

Over the last two years, the 2 Crew has become accustomed to looking adversity in the eye and coming out on top, and using Charlotte to do so. Amid an arduous 2013 season, the defending Sprint Cup champ led 11 laps in last October’s Bank of America 500 on his way to his only victory of 2013.

Earlier this season, Kes fell below 10th in the points standings for the 10th and 11th races of the season at Talladega and Kansas, but turned in a 10th-place finish at Charlotte, sparking a scorching finish to the regular season.

However, climbing out of a hole midway through the regular season and doing so with two races left in a round in the Chase are two entirely different challenges. Kes acknowledged the importance of a good performance this Saturday—likening the pressure to do so as similar to the season finale at Homestead. But he noted that the No. 2 Crew is used to shining in these difficult situations.

“It does feel as though Homestead came early this year – subsequently we need a big weekend in order to keep our season alive,” BK said. “This team thrives with adversity, and I am not one to back down when challenged, so I feel as though we are ready for this one.”

Though some uncertainty surrounds the No. 2 team’s prospects to advance after last week’s letdown, crew chief Paul Wolfe doesn’t want his team to lose their focus in light of the Chase’s new rules and their changed position in the standings.

Instead, Wolfe intends to use the intense nature of the playoffs to the team’s advantage.

“This new Chase format does create new challenges, but it also brings new opportunity,” he said. “While it is easy to get caught up in thinking about the Chase and this Contender Round in particular, we can only do one race at a time.”

It’s also important for all involved to keep in mind that the No. 2 crew is not far removed from by far their best stretch of the season. Before a frustrating finish in the bottom eight last week, The Deuce was routinely finishing in the Top 10, including six of the previous seven weeks. That stretch included victories at Richmond and Charlotte and runner-up finishes at Dover and Bristol.

Including the win at Charlotte last year, Brad has finished 11th or better in four of his last five starts at the 1.5-mile quad oval. He also has 10 Top 10 and five Top 5 finishes in the Nationwide Series at the track, including two wins. BK is set to run the NNS race Friday at CMS, which will give him a good deal of extra practice ahead of Saturday night’s all-important Cup event.

That practice could prove vital on a Charlotte track that will take a lot to handle. Wolfe commented this week that the 2 Crew may be forced to shift their strategy due to the unpredictable road conditions. This, however, does not deter the crew from trying to snag one of the remaining seven spots in the playoffs.

“Charlotte is a very temperature sensitive track and this is a long race so keeping up with the changing track conditions is key,” Wolfe said. “Since it is a long race, it seems as though alternative strategies often come into play. We have done a pretty good job so far this year, and we know what we have to do to keep it going. Racing here at home kind of adds a little something to mix as well. I am looking forward to it.”

Brad will also call upon his Penske teammate Joey Logano for a helping hand. The No. 22 driver won last week at Kansas, locking him into the Eliminator Round and the information Brad can get from Logano and his crew could prove crucial to the No. 2’s chances of joining the 22 in the next round.

Together the Team Penske duo has 10 victories on the season, and they are the only two drivers with five wins apiece.

BK will aim to make it 11 for Penske as he climbs into his light blue Detroit Genuine Parts Ford Fusion for the weekend. This will mark the second time the Deuce has been draped in light blue this year. Kes previously ran the DGP Deuce at Richmond, where he qualified second and finished fourth.

Ahead of one of the most important weekends of his career, Brad has been a busy man off the track. He has played host at his home to several guests from down under in New Zealand and Australia in support of Team Penske’s new trucking partnerships.

Wednesday, Brad made good use of his time in North Carolina before practice and preparation, when he took some time to make appearances at Discount Tire and a Wal-Mart in Concord.

Brad and the 2 Crew struggled a bit on their first day on the track at Charlotte, posting just the 31st best time in the first practice and the 17th best qualifying time. However, that starting position could prove insignificant. In this race last year, BK raced to Victory Lane after starting 23rd. 

Drivers get two final practice sessions on Friday at 3 and 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Finally, the main event—the Bank of America 500—is set for a 7:46 p.m. ET green flag Saturday and will be broadcast on ABC.

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