Unfortunately, the luck that fell their way at Talladega just wasn’t there at Kansas Speedway as BK finished 13th. He will, however, enter the Round of 8 in third place at 4,026 points.

“The Miller Lite Ford Fusion was good enough and better than our finish,” Brad said. “All in all, my guys put a good effort in it and I think we were better than we finished. We put ourselves in position to capitalize on strategy and execution multiple times today and we just didn’t catch any breaks. You’ll have that. Now it’s on to Martinsville.”

BK earned his third straight Top 10 start, qualifying in 10th for the Hollywood Casino 400. Right from the start, Brad battled a Miller Lite Ford that lacked stability entering Kansas’ corners. The loose handling caused BK to drop out of the Top 10, back to 14th when the competition caution was displayed at lap 30.

Paul Wolfe’s crew made air pressure and wedge adjustments to the White Lite, allowing it to battle to 11th before the conclusion of Stage 1, and Brad’s machine came alive in Stage 2. BK had powered his way back into the Top 10 to seventh before pitting at lap 144. Here, Wolfe employed some strategy to vault the No. 2 Ford to third for the end of the second stage.

Unfortunately, BK’s Stage 3 hopes took a hit before the segment began. He was flagged for speeding entering his pit stall, dropping him to the rear of the field. Over the next 90 laps, Brad drove all the way back into the Top 10. He was in seventh when he made his final pit stop at lap 239—but he was hit for speeding in the same section once again.

He restarted 22nd, but with 25 laps to go, he didn’t have time to make up the distance, finishing 13th.

“I don’t understand the pit road speeding penalties and will have to see that with my own eyes,” BK said after the race.

The MENCS Playoffs head to Martinsville Speedway to open the Round of 8. BK will return to the Virginia short track as the recent winner, having taken home his first career Grandfather Clock at the Cup level earlier this season.

He’ll look to replicate that performance when the First Data 500 goes green Sunday at 3:13 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

MENCS PLAYOFF STANDINGS

1. Martin Truex Jr. – 4069
2. Kyle Busch – 4042
3. Brad Keselowski – 4026
T4. Kevin Harvick – 4017
T4. Jimmie Johnson – 4017
6. Denny Hamlin – 4014
7. Ryan Blaney – 4009
8. Chase Elliott – 4006

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It was easier for the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion driver to sleep this week knowing he isn’t in need of a spectacular finish at this weekend’s 1.5-mile track, BK knows he’ll have to stay sharp to be ready for the challenges that await in the next round.

“To be able to win and to advance to the next round of the playoffs, and not have to deal with all of that, it’s really special,” BK said after his Talladega win. “I’m going to get to play a few more video games late nights because I don’t have to worry about Kansas as much, but right around the corner is Texas, Martinsville and Phoenix—those are three tough tracks.”

Brad, crew chief Paul Wolfe the Team Penske group will look to sharpen its sword on the 1.5-mile Kansas track. Mile-and-a-half speedways constitute the backbone of the Monster Energy Cup Series playoffs, including the championship venue, Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Kes showed some speed at Kansas earlier this season, finishing second to Martin Truex Jr.—coincidentally the only other driver currently locked into the Round of 8.

“We had a really good Elite Support Ford Fusion all day and just never had a chance to show it,” BK said at Kansas in May. “Every time we started to pass cars and cycle up to the front, we had some kind of issue, which was a real bummer to not be able to showcase the strength that we had.”

That marked Brad’s second-best finish ever at Kansas, behind only his win in 2011, the second trip to Victory Lane of his MENCS career.

While BK will quietly be looking for his second win at Kansas, 10 of his competitors will be scrambling to stack as many points as possible in hopes of joining him in the Round of 8.

The first practice and the qualifying session will take place on Friday at 2:25 and 6:15 p.m. ET, respectively. Two more practice sessions will follow Saturday at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. ET. Finally, the Hollywood Casino 400 will go green around 3 p.m. ET Sunday. All weekend coverage will take place on NBCSN.

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Brad rallied from 35th position, two laps down to steal the runner-up spot in the 11th race of the season, his ninth Top 10 and seventh Top 5 finish of the 2017 season. Afterward, he credited his team’s diligence with putting them in position to succeed on a night when all seemed lost.

“We caught a couple breaks there on those restarts and made the most of them,” the wheelman said. “That was good. We had a really great Freightliner Elite Support Ford, just kept getting caught in adversity there. We worked our way through it.”

Saturday’s annual spring event at Kansas Speedway looked to be another crucial track position event, which created a challenge for the 2 team starting the race in P17. But BK pushed forward. When the first caution flew on lap 28, Kes had moved up to 14th, passing Aric Almirola, Daniel Suarez, and Austin Dillon. Interim crew chief Brian Wilson, serving his third and final race atop the 2 box for Paul Wolfe, called Brad down for four tires and fuel under yellow, and the 2 Crew’s excellent stop gained three more spots. Following that stop, as the sun set and night conditions took hold, the Deuce was even better.

The remainder of the 80 lap opening stage saw two more yellow flags, and with the car dialed in, Brad worked his way up to fifth as the Green and White flag waved. Though that result put BK in position to earn some valuable Stage points, it was bittersweet as both of the drivers above him in points, Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr., finished ahead, and as a result both increased their margin over BK.

“It stinks we finished second and still lost points because we didn’t get [enough of] those Stage points,” BK commented after the race.

The 2 Crew used the Stage break to pit, where Wilson called for a four-tire, fuel and wedge adjustment stop. The pit crew got BK out in 12.4 seconds, which put him P6 on the lap 88 restart.

When a caution flag flew just seven laps later for one of Erik Jones’ three spins on the evening, Wilson called BK back down pit road for a strategy play. The 2 Crew slapped another fresh set of Goodyear Eagles on the Deuce looking to get ahead of the game. Once the race restarted on lap 100, BK was able to slice through the field from P24, jumping up to P17 by the time a lap 102 debris caution flew.

On the ensuing lap 105 restart, Brad found a fifth gear and drove from 12th up to 6th by the completion of that lap. When he passed Kurt Busch for fifth shortly thereafter, it appeared the lost track position from that P93 stop was in the rear view. But just a few laps after he broke back into the Top 5, Kes had to make an unscheduled pit stop stemming from a right rear tire problem. Cycling out P34, a lap behind, the blows didn’t end there as the 2 team was also sanctioned a pass through penalty for driving through too many pit boxes. The Deuce eventually returned to the track in 35th position, two laps off pace.

“So much happened, I’m not sure I even know,” Brad said of the setbacks. “We had a really good Elite Support Ford Fusion all day and just never had a chance to show it. Every time we started to pass cars and cycle up to the front, we had some kind of issue, which was a real bummer to not be able to showcase the strength that we had.”

A lap 135 caution brought out by Corey LaJoie allowed the 2 to take a wave around and claim a lap back. The move paid off once the second Stage — won by Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney — ended on lap 160. The break in the action allowed the team to take another wave around to get back on the lead lap.

Running on worn rubber, Brad wasn’t able to gain much ground, but a timely caution on lap 194, for a wreck between AJ Allmendinger and Paul Menard, allowed BK to finally change tires and fill his tank. On the ensuing restart, Kes narrowly avoided a horrific wreck that totaled Penske teammate Joey Logano’s car, along with the Fords of Danica Patrick and Aric Almirola.

The wreck startled the NASCAR community with a shocking reminder of racing’s dangers when Almirola, though fully responsive, had to be airlifted to a local hospital wrapped in a neck brace.

Sad to hear about @aric_almirola injuries.

Sometimes we forget how truly dangerous racing still can be…

Get well soon bud.

— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) May 14, 2017

After the lengthy cleanup ended, Brad and the rest of the field had to shake off his thoughts of the wreck and get back to racing. With fresh tires and back on the lead lap, Brad began to pick through the field.

He moved back inside the Top 10 on lap 226, then passed Trevor Bayne and Larson to claim P8 just ahead of the second incident of the night involving the No. 83 of LaJoie. Wilson and Brad opted for a full set of sticker tires on theFreightliner Elite Support Deuce while others only took two. It dropped the 2 car back to P13 – but proved it’s worth before the end of the evening.

On a restart with five laps remaining, frontrunners Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson tangled, which set BK up for a short two-lap shootout from fourth place. After using the final restart to catapult past Blaney’s No. 21 and the 4 of Kevin Harvick, the Frieghtliner Ford fell short of Truex’s Toyota, as the New Jersey driver went on to capture his second checkered flag of the season.

“Towards the end we were able to get some runs and make the most of it, and I think we went from probably 20th with 100 to go to second, which was a pretty big climb in the sport,” BK said. “But I kind of feel like I would have liked to have seen if it would have just played out normal. I think we might have had a shot at him…all in all, we had a really fast Ford and have a lot to be proud of. We will move on to the next week.”

Truex now has two wins and five Stage wins to his credit, he is scored with 15 playoff points, the only total higher than Brad’s 12.

Looking forward, the Monster Energy Cup Series teams prepare for the newly designed All-Star race. Usual crew chief Paul Wolfe will have to shine in the non-points event with additional strategies being employed during the 70-lap showdown, including a second Goodyear tire compound.

The 25th annual running of the All-Star Race commences on Saturday, May 20th at 8 p.m. ET.

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“We finally got a break Paul!” Brad screamed to his crew chief, Paul Wolfe.

My, how things have changed. Kes has since won 21 races, including two this season, as well as the 2012 Cup Series championship, behind the wheel of the No. 2 car.

However, this weekend, with Wolfe sitting out the final race of a three-race suspension, Brad and the 2 Crew head back to Kansas seeking another break from a track that used to be among the driver’s favorites, but has lately been anything but kind to BK and his team.

Since a recent repave at the 1.5-mile speedway, the 2012 Champion has admittedly struggled to once again find his Kentucky groove. But teammate Joey Logano, who has one at Kansas in two of the last three seasons, has provided some great insights throughout the Team Penske stables.

“We haven’t had the runs we would like to have here at Kansas as of late, and we’re trying some different things to be better,” Brad said. “[ has been really good here and we’re looking at them and saying, ‘Hey, they’ve got a lot of speed here,’ and we’ll try some things.”

It’ll be an adjustment for every driver as the series shifts from the restrictor plate drafting style of Talladega to the Kansas 1.5 mile track. Brad ran well at Dega, starting the race with one of the strongest cars in the early laps of the race, Kes easily claimed the first Stage. However, he collected some damage in a late wreck that foiled his chances for a third win of the season. Still, a resilient effort saw him draft his way up to a P7 finish. It may take some more of that same magic to find success this weekend.

After advancing two spots on overall points with last weekend’s resilient finish, the 2 Crew heads to Kansas Speedway looking close the gap on the points lead.

Even though they don’t run restrictor plates in Kansas, the accidents cause just as much damage. Last spring, BK was going for the race win in the closing laps, but it wasn’t meant to be as Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 car sucked the air off of BK’s Alliance machine. Unfortunately, it caused the Deuce to go for a loop in turn 3. He sustained no more damage than a set of flat-spotted tires, but was forced to settle for a 10th place finish.

Because the spring Kansas race is run on Mother’s Day weekend it’s scheduled to be the first Saturday night race of the 2017 season. The element of night racing adds another dimension to the already challenging track post repave.

“It’s a night race, it tends to be a little bit more toward the bottom, a little bit more about track position,” BK said. “So you’re going need the balance as always.”

The rough and bumpy surface that previously adorned Kansas Speedway well suited BK’s driving style. His Sunflower State debut in 2009 under the Hendrick Motorsports banner was nothing but a success for the then part-time driver. Starting a season-high P3, Kes went on to record a 13th place result.

Two seasons later, the midwestern 1.5-mile track expanded it’s presence to two Sprint Cup races per season. The first of them came in the spring, where Brad and Wolfe synchronized perfectly to claim the pair’s first Cup victory together. In an excellent display of fuel mileage racing, Brad’s clutch clutch-work saved enough precious fumes to earn the first of many race wins for the legendary owner Roger Penske. Following the triumph, Brad was relieved that his team finally had attained the much-deserved result.

“We just never caught that good break, and you can only put yourself in that position so many times before you’re going to catch the right break, and we caught a great break today all because of the hard work from the Miller Lite team.”

With the key ingredient in that victory being Wolfe’s guidance from atop the box, the 2 Crew will be at a loss this weekend as Paul is serving his final sanction of a three race suspension. Once again, long time No.2 race engineer Brian Wilson will step up to call the race.

Last week, Brad wheeled a fresh paint scheme at Talladega, the Green Fitzgerald Glider Kits Ford and this weekend he’ll make it two straight weeks with a new backer when he rolls out with sponsorship from Freightliner Elite Support. As a bonus, No.2 hauler driver Mike “Bama” Williams was treated to a brand new 2018 Freightliner hauler to replace Team Penske’s 2015 model.

Tune into the Go Bowling 400 on Saturday, May 11th, at 7:30 p.m. ET, live on FOX Sports 1.

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BK was running in the Top 10, looking to give himself some valuable insurance points going into the final Round of 12 race next week at Talladega Superspeedway. But while Brad was making a pass on Denny Hamlin, the rear of his No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion clipped the nose of Hamlin’s No. 11, sending the White Lite spinning into the infield grass, effectively ending its day.

“As far as what happened on the track I don’t know,” Brad said afterward. “I spun and got in the grass and tore the nose off.”

Starting the 40-mile Kansas race from P8, seventh best of the Chase contenders, Brad played it conservative early on as he dropped back to 16th by lap 10. By the lap 27 debris caution, he made it back up to 13th, passing Ryan Blaney, Jimmie Johnson, and Ryan Newman. Pitting under yellow for four tires and fuel, the Miller 2 Crew performed excellently on pit road once more, gaining two spots.

Setting up for the lap 31 restart from 11th, BK settled back in 13th before a caution flew from Aric Almirola spinning just five laps later. Then two laps after the L42 restart, another yellow was brought out by Jamie McMurray contacting the wall. Going green on the 48th lap once more from 14th, it set up for a longer green-flag run.

Kes passed Newman on the start, as well as Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson by the time he visited pit road on lap 90 for a scheduled stop. Staying out longer than the race leaders, he was able to lead a lap and gain a valuable bonus point. Cycling out to P15, he picked up another two spots on Tony Stewart and Martin Truex Jr. when the next yellow for Josh Wise was triggered.

Pitting for a fresh set of tires and fuel, it lined the Deuce up for a lap 121 14th place restart, and the high line carried him up to 12th, before passing Blaney 11 laps after for 11th. Pitting under green for a routine stop on lap 175, the 12.2-second stop for another set of Goodyear Eagles, fuel, and a chassis adjustment brought Kes inside the Top 10. Two laps after servicing, a yellow was displayed for Kyle Larson brushing the wall. Crew chief Paul Wolfe decided to bring his car right back in for fresh tires with an air pressure adjustment to improve handling conditions.

That air tweak appeared to work, as Brad moved past Blaney and others from 12th into the Top 10. But six laps after the restart, Brad was moving by Hamlin for ninth. Just when he slid back up in line, his car bobbled and took a hit from Hamlin’s 11. The No. 2 Ford took a slide through the grass, destroying its front end.

“I probably could have raced less hard with a big points gap coming in,” Brad said. “With this format I had a big points gap coming in.”

As a driver accustomed to giving 100 percent at all times, it became an instantly regrettable decision to not roll around the track like his title hopeful counterparts did. Kes raced conservatively early, but just when he went to make his move to the front, disaster struck. BK looked back on a day where he was just uncomfortable racing outside of his usual aggressive style.

“With this format it is probably the smart thing to do but I don’t want to race like that. I want to race my guts out and go for wins,” BK said. “I don’t want to points race. I don’t care what the damn format is, I am going to give it my best.”

Following a visit to the garage, the White Deuce emerged back on track, 30 laps down. But upon re-entering the racing surface, the machine began to smoke, ending their day for good.

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The No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion driver watched five NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup hopefuls finish 30th or worse at Charlotte, while he finished seventh, and fourth among Cup Championship contenders. With a nice cushion, BK wasn’t afraid to reveal that he’ll be playing it safe in Kansas City.

“If you’re a car that has any kind of gap right now, you’re going to just go and lay up at Kansas,” he said. “You’re going to try really hard to not put yourself in any situations. The reality is if you have a pretty good gap, you’re going to take a log off the fire.”

Denny Hamlin (30th), Austin Dillon (32nd), Chase Elliott (33rd), Joey Logano (36th) and Kevin Harvick (38th) experienced issues in Charlotte, giving some breathing room to Brad and the other drivers who turned in strong finishes in the Round of 12’s opening race, though race winner Jimmie Johnson is the only one truly safe. The remaining six drivers who finished well but didn’t win are left to battle for spots in the Top 8, all while hoping lady luck stays on their side.

In 2011, the midwestern 1.5-mile track expanded its presence to two Sprint Cup races per season. The first of them came in the spring, where Keselowski and crew chief Paul Wolfe synchronized perfectly to claim the pair’s first NSCS victory. In an excellent display of fuel mileage racing, Brad’s clutch work on the clutch saved enough precious fumes to earn his first of many race wins for legendary car owner Roger Penske. Following the triumph, Brad was relieved that his team finally had the much-deserved Victory Lane celebration.

“We just never caught that good break, and you can only put yourself in that position so many times before you’re going to catch the right break,” Brad said, “and we caught a great break today all because of the hard work from the Miller Lite team working on these cars.”

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The No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford team over came a few road bumps to get to within eyeshot of the lead, but with roughly 25 laps to go, he was spun out by an aggressive three-wide move by Denny Hamlin. BK rebounded from that late-race spin, driving from 16th to 10th for his sixth Top 10 finish of the year, and his third straight at Kansas Speedway.

“It was a long night for the Alliance Truck Parts Ford team,” Brad said. “We drove back up to 10th in the last 20 laps from 16th, so it was up and down.”

Starting the 267-lap night race from fifth place, Brad held out inside of the Top 10 when the first caution struck at lap 23 from debris. The 2 Crew had a flawless stop, but on pit exit, a first bit of adversity struck. As he exited his pit box, Kes knocked one of Casey Mears’ tires clean from the service box, sending it bouncing across pit road. No damage was caused to either car, or any pit members, neither physically nor through penalties.

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