The company, which offers a complete suite of solutions including in-flight Internet, entertainment, text messaging and a host of other communications related services to the commercial and business aviation markets, is widely credited with many of the industry’s most influential achievements.

“Gogo has made a positive difference in what I do both as a driver and team owner,” Brad said. “For me, the airplane is a business tool – it’s a time machine – and the ability to take my entire digital lifestyle with me when I fly is simply invaluable. Gogo allows me to be productive in my business by eliminating the downtime of not having access to the internet when I’m in the air, and I can get my work done quickly and efficiently. Whether it’s staying in close contact with my family and business team, interacting with fans immediately after a race, seeing our flight’s progress, or just watching a movie – it all couldn’t be easier. I’ll never fly ‘unconnected’ again.”

(NKP, Matthew T. Thacker)

Gogo’s partnership is a perfect fit with Brad, one of NASCAR’s most tech-savvy and high-profile drivers. The 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion and 2010 XFINITY Series champion is also the owner of Brad Keselowski Racing, an organization that fields two full-time entries in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Those responsibilities – plus interacting with his Twitter followers (560,000 and counting), whom Brad considers his “fan club” – add up to a critical need for communications services whether on the ground or in the air.

“Since equipping the aircraft with Gogo earlier this year, one surprise has been the difference Gogo has made from an operational standpoint,” said Joey Meier, Director of Aviation and Chief Pilot for Brad Keselowski Racing. “It’s been a huge help to us in the cockpit – we use it for cockpit weather and operational applications, communicating with personnel on the ground, and much more. It definitely helps us deliver a better experience for passengers.”

For travel to races, sponsor engagements, and numerous other business-related activities, Keselowski currently owns and operates a Learjet 45 business aircraft with a full suite of Gogo capabilities, which include:

• Gogo Biz. In-flight Internet and voice service.
• Gogo Vision. In-flight entertainment and information. Serves up approximately 200 on-demand movies and TV shows – along with moving maps, news, flight progress information and destination weather.
• Gogo Text & Talk. In-flight calling and texting with passengers’ own smartphones – and their own mobile numbers.
• UCS 5000. Gogo’s next-generation, all-in-one cabin router and media server.

“We’re excited to announce our partnership with Brad Keselowski,” said John Wade, Gogo Business Aviation’s Executive Vice President and General Manager. “Brad is a very knowledgeable and insightful consumer and he’ll be a tremendous asset to the Gogo brand. As a user of our products and services, he’ll be an expert resource for other business aircraft operators about in-flight connectivity and entertainment, and can give us valuable feedback on our services.”

ABOUT GOGO

Gogo is a leading global aero-communications service provider that offers in-flight Internet, entertainment, text messaging, voice, connected aircraft services and a host of other communications-related services to the commercial and business aviation markets. Gogo has partnerships with 11 major commercial airlines and is now installed on nearly 2,400 commercial aircraft. More than 6,800 business aircraft are also flying with its solutions, including the world’s largest fractional ownership fleets. Gogo also is a factory option at every major business aircraft manufacturer.

Gogo has more than 900 employees and is headquartered in Chicago, IL, with additional facilities in Broomfield, CO, and various locations overseas. Connect with us at www.gogoair.com and business.gogoair.com.

The post Brad Teams With Gogo For “Connected” Partnership appeared first on BradRacing.com | The Official Web Site of Brad Keselowski www.bk30beta.www.bk30beta.bradracing.com.

The No. 2 MGD Ford Fusion ran in the Top 10 for most of the afternoon and was best on long green-flag runs, but a late restart shuffled the Deuce back outside the Top 12 with 10 laps to go. However, BK battled back and passed three cars in the final five laps to finish ninth.

Afterward, he reflected on the decent day on his home track.

“We just needed to be faster, for sure, especially down the straightaways,” Brad said after the race. “It was an okay day. Nothing spectacular. We made the most of our day in every way we could though.”

The result marked Brad’s sixth consecutive Top 10 finish, his longest Top 10 streak of the season, and it was also his fifth straight time finishing better than he qualified.

BK started 14th at Michigan, and he was off to a strong start in the 400-mile trek around Brooklyn’s two-mile D-shaped oval. Thanks to a great start, he was able to push the Midnight Black Miller machine all the way up to eighth position on the first lap. But he didn’t get much opportunity to ride that wave of momentum. In an event that featured eight cautions for 31 yellow-flag laps, the first incident occurred on that very first lap, when David Ragan went for a spin.

Another caution flag came at lap 11, but rather than trying to jump the field on those restarts Brad chose to play it conservative in the early going, in an effort to keep his machine clean, and as a result he was shuffled back to 13th on the second restart. However, as they often do, BK and the No. 2 Ford showed their strength under green, which allowed Brad to pass the No. 14 of Tony Stewart and No. 27 of Paul Menard back to position No. 11 before a NASCAR mandated competition caution at lap 22.

This caution marked the first pit stop of the day for the No. 2 crew, but crew chief Paul Wolfe called for a fuel-only stop, which gave Kes some much needed track position. He was third off pit road and restarted fourth because Austin Dillon in the No. 3 car elected to forgo pit road. But that track position didn’t last long, because on the ensuing run, Midnight wasn’t running well for Brad. He tried to combat its tight condition with in-car track bar adjustments but fell back in the pack to seventh position.

Kes was finally able to come down pit road for a wedge adjustment and four fresh tires at lap 59 and the 2 Crew had him out of his pit box in just 12.3 seconds, again gaining some valuable track position. But the adjustments never quite took hold. Another caution flag flew at lap 72 and on the following run, BK reported that he was still unhappy with the car, which lacked straightaway speed and the power to make passes.

He remained right around the fringe of the Top 10 for much of that run before pitting under green at lap 114. This stop was set up to give the team the strategy they needed to regain track position, but a miscue on pit road erased that opportunity. BK turned up in 10th place after the stop, but a loose left-rear wheel forced him down pit road for an unscheduled stop during a lap 121 caution.

New tires remedied the issue and also allowed BK to gain ground on a restart for the first time since the start of the race. He jumped from 15th to 13th on the restart, then moved up to P11 after another quick caution and finally passed Kyle Busch to get back into the Top 10 before the race’s seventh caution came at lap 136.

While the leaders stayed out, Brad pitted once again and the 2 Crew strapped four fresh tires on the MGD Ford Fusion. Kes used that rubber to notch his best restart of the day, carving his way from 16th to 11th on the lap 141 restart. During the green-flag run that followed, BK cycled to second place, his highest running position of the afternoon, before pitting at lap 172.

On that pit road trip, Wolfe called for a two-tire stop to give Brad another track position boost, and he cycled out to seventh place, where he was running some of the best lap times on the track. That move put him within striking distance of the leaf for the final reset at lap 187.

However, a disturbing trend from the last several weeks reared its ugly head once more as a poor final restart sunk the MGD Deuce’s ship. Brad fell to 13th on the restart and instead of competing for the win, he spent the final 10 laps passing the No. 1 of Jamie McMurray, Busch’s No. 18, Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 and Menard’s No. 27 car just to get back to a ninth place finish.

His sixth straight Top 10 kept him in fifth place in the Sprint Cup Series points standings. Oddly enough, his ninth-place finish at MIS nearly mirrored his 10th-place result at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where NASCAR debuted the high-drag aerodynamics package also used this past weekend at Michigan.

Brad left both weekends disappointed in the new package, and he shared with the media his opinion on what it brought to the sport.

“It doesn’t matter what my thoughts and observations are, it is what NASCAR wants,” Kes said after the race. “Whatever they want to do. It wasn’t fun. It wasn’t the worst I have ever seen but this package increasingly rewards the car over the driver and I am not a fan of that.”

NEXT UP

The No. 2 car will be racing under the lights next week at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Irwin Tools Night Race.

This race comes at just the right time for the No. 2 Crew, which is still starved for their second win of the year. The 0.533-mile short track is one of just four tracks where BK boasts multiple wins. He won back-to-back races there in 2011 and 2012 and in 11 starts as Bristol, Brad has four Top 5s, including a second-place finish in this race last year.

Back in April at Bristol, BK was set to start second in the Food City 500, but rain throughout the weekend created a slick track and that contributed to a wreck just 20 laps in, which swallowed up the Deuce and led to a 35th place finish. They No. 2 crew will look to avoid a similar fate this weekend.

The Irwin Tools Night Race will be run on Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m ET on NBC Sports Network.

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Despite the unfortunate issue, the No. 2 Crew never gave up, and with some hard work, they got BK back out on the track still on the lead lap, which allowed him to rebound for a solid eighth place finish. Afterward, Brad was extremely proud of his team, whose swift action turned a seemingly imminent poor finish into a Top 10 result.

“That was a good finish to come home eighth after hitting the wall,” Kes said. “We had some pretty good adversity there with the blown tire. I am not sure why that happened…It is hard to say but the team did a hell of a job to overcome that and get an eighth-place finish out of what should have been probably a 25th-or 30th-place finish.”

After another solid qualifying session on Friday, Brad started from P5 on Sunday. It marked his fifth consecutive Top 10 start and his 18th start from P9 or higher this season.He remained right around that top five standing for the better part of the first 100 laps of the 200-lap trek around MIS.

As the race got underway, BK quickly started making moves and passed fellow Ford Racing driver Carl Edwards for fourth place at lap nine. He remained in fourth for the competition caution at lap 21, called for by NASCAR due to overnight rain.

When he pulled down pit road for his first stop under that caution, the No. 2 crew elected to make it a fuel only stop and BK won the race off pit road, but since Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson elected not to pit, Brad landed in P3. On the ensuing restart, Danica Patrick spun out, sparking a large wreck which brought out another yellow flag. After a brief cleanup, the race resumed at lap 31.

Before the race, Brad identified restarts as one of the keys to victory, but they ended up as one of his undoings throughout the afternoon. On that lap 31 restart, he was stuck on the inside and fell back from third to fifth. Another yellow came a few laps later, and on the subsequent restart, BK was caught on the inside yet again behind Kevin Harvick and when Harvick’s No. 4 Chevrolet had a poor restart, it caused the Miller Lite Ford to lose ground, dropping the No. 2 from third to seventh. Despite the trouble on restarts, the No. 2 found its groove during long runs and during the green flag run after that Lap 41 restart, Kes fought his way back up to the fifth spot he started the race from.

After taking that fifth spot, BK started the next pit cycle under green at lap 61, and took four tires and fuel. Kes also reported that the White Lite was tight through the center of corners and loose exiting. Crew chief Paul Wolfe called for consistent air pressure changes to perfect the No. 2’s handling.

Brad came out of the green-flag cycle after a lap 141 stop in 10th place. Following another air pressure tweak on that stop, he reported that the Deuce was running as well as it had all day, allowing him to charge his way to fifth by lap 165.

During the next green-flag cycle Brad claimed the lead at lap 166, but he only held it for two laps. At lap 168, his right-front tire blew, sending him into the wall. Fortunately, the damage was only moderate, and the No. 2 crew was able to make a few rapid repairs and avoid going a lap down.

“I am not sure why that happened,” Kes said of the blown tire. “We didn’t have any indication of it and there was no real reason to. I was about the least aggressive you could be and did a run before that where I was more aggressive and didn’t even come close to showing signs of an issue. I don’t know. I think we just got a bad tire.”

Kes was, however, forced to restart at the back of the lead lap in 17th place as a penalty for entering pit road too soon. Two more caution flags flew over the closing 25 laps, but on the final run, BK piloted the patched-up Deuce past several competitors to finish eighth.

Following the blown tire, it looked like Brad’s day would be over, and a third straight finish outside of the Top 10 seemed unavoidable. However, the outstanding work by the 2 Crew helped it to claim its 11th Top 10 finish of the season. Brad earned a driver rating of 108.5—the fourth highest in the field.

Pole-sitter Jeff Gordon went on to win the race for his third victory of the season. Gordon joined Brad, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Johnson as the fourth driver with three wins on the year. After earning 37 points at Michigan, Brad sits in third in both the Chase Grid and the overall Sprint Cup Standings behind first-place Gordon and Earnhardt Jr.

NEXT UP

Next week, the Sprint Cup circuit heads to Bristol, Tennessee for the second time this season.

Brad finished 14th in the spring run at Bristol Motor Speedway after qualifying second. BMS has been one of BK’s best tracks and could provide a much-needed opportunity for the 2 Crew to regain momentum with just three events remaining until the Chase for the Championship.

In nine runs at Bristol, Kes has three Top 5 finishes and two wins. BK could make BMS his first three-win track this weekend, while simultaneously becoming the only Cup driver with four wins on the year.

Kes will qualify at 5:40 p.m. Friday, and the Irwin Tools Night Race will go green around 7:30 p.m. Saturday as the first of three consecutive events under the lights.

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Brad grew up some 90 miles from MIS, and his fondest memory of the track is his father Bob Keselowski’s first ARCA win in 1992. Brad first ran Michigan International as a NASCAR driver in 2005, in the Camping World Truck Series and finally visited victory lane as a driver there in 2009 when he won the Nationwide Series Carfax 250 in the JR Motorsports No. 88

All that’s missing from his Michigan résumé now is a Sprint Cup checkered flag, and until he conquers the track he calls home, BK will always feel that gap in his legacy.

“I’ve recently mentioned that while I am grateful for all that I’ve accomplished so far in my racing career, one of the things that I feel is missing is a marquee race win,” Brad said. “Usually that would mean a Daytona or a Brickyard, but for me Michigan kind of fits that bill. It is the home track for the Motor City and it’s my home track too. So to win here in Cup would be a big deal. It is something I want to experience without a doubt.”

This weekend’s Pure Michigan 400 gives Brad an opportunity to earn that career-defining moment, as he’s recorded Top 12 finishes in each of his last four races at MIS, including a third place finish in June’s Quicken Loans 400 and a runner-up finish in the 2012 Pure Michigan 400 on the way to his Sprint Cup title.

“Seems like we’re right there on the cusp of getting that win,” he said.

He entered June’s race on the heels of runner-up finishes at Dover and Pocono, still seeking his second win of the season, and he was among the top seven cars nearly the entire day. The No. 2 crew felt it had even orchestrated a winning pit strategy. But an untimely late-race caution threw their plans to the wind and allowed Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick to outpace BK down the stretch on newer tires as the Deuce settled for a third place finish.

This time around, Kes is coming off a stretch of three rough finishes: 12th at Indianapolis, 23rd at Pocono and 35th last weekend at Watkins Glen. But BK hasn’t let the team’s rough stretch phase him, and as he returns home firmly entrenched in the Chase with three victories, he’s focusing solely on a fourth.

“We’re really thinking this is going to be a special weekend and would like to seal it off with a win,” Brad said. “To that mindset, wins for us are really all that matters till the Chase starts.  Consistency is great for looking and having momentum for the Chase, but in reality it probably doesn’t mean much.”

Despite his recent setbacks due to misfortune over the last three races, BK has been a top-five driver all season with the best average starting position (7.0), fourth highest average finish (13.7) and the third-most laps led (844), according to NBC Sports.

BK will be looking to tick all those numbers up with a win this weekend, and having earned three Top 3 Sprint Cup finishes and two Nationwide wins at MIS, he is well versed in how to tackle the two-mile track, identifying track position and restarts as the two keys to victory.

“You have to be on the front row on the restarts and you have to execute,” BK said. “If you can accomplish those two things, you’ll probably win the race this weekend for the Cup Series.”

That bodes well for the Miller Lite team, which has been the fourth fastest in restarts and early in runs. With that in mind, BK noted that the No. 2 crew will have to be on top of its game to end the day in Victory Lane.

“The key is timing your pit stops perfectly,” he said. “Having the right position on the track is critical. You want to be in a spot where you’re leading late in the race and don’t have to pit again. That is a very, very formidable position.”

Races at MIS aren’t home games just for Brad, they are a homecoming for two of the organizations he represents. Penske corporate headquarters are located just 80 miles from the track in Bloomfield Hills, while Ford Motor Company’s Dearborn, Mich. home is even closer.

Though Brad is not pulling double or triple duty this weekend, he will be busy throughout the weekend as his Checkered Flag Foundation is a presenting sponsor of Saturday’s Careers for Veterans 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.

“We have 2,400 of their employees here cheering us on, our own Brad K Nation, trying to keep up with Junior Nation,” Brad said. “I’m excited about that.  I think this is a great opportunity to get a win in front of a huge audience with initiatives like Careers For Veterans.”

Brad has already been busy playing host with a whirlwind week of appearances including a meeting with partners at the Oakland Hills Country Club on Wednesday, followed by a Thursday appearance at the Team Penske Sponsorship Summit in downtown Detroit. Then on Thursday evening, Brad appeared for Miller Lite at The Pointe Bar & Grill located in Clarklake, Michigan.

The hectic schedule didn’t seem to slow him down, however, and in Friday’s opening practice, BK was 10th quickest with a 35.535 second lap at an average speed of 202.617 miles per hour. Brad and the No. 2 team will likely be consulting with his teammate Joey Logano ahead of qualifying, as Logano’s Shell Pennzoil Ford topped the charts with a 35.2 second lap at 204.545 mph. Logano will also be running the Brad Keselowski Racing Draw-Tite No. 19 in Saturday’s Truck Series race, so the two teammates will be in close company all weekend.

They’ll both compete for the pole in cup qualifying at 4:30 p.m. ET Friday on Fox Sports 1. Drivers return to the track bright and early on Saturday for practices run at 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. ET, both to be televised on ESPN2.

The second session will be followed immediately by the NCWTS Careers for Veterans 200 at 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday on Fox Sports 1. Before getting to racing on Sunday, Brad will be at the Ford Display in the MIS Fan Zone on at 10:15 a.m.

ESPN’s coverage of the Pure Michigan 400 begins at Noon ET with the green flag scheduled for 1:16 p.m. ET.

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I found out that Brad Keselowski was going to be at Walmart signing autographs. I talked my sister into going way early to get in line to meet Brad. I did get to meet Brad and have my picture made with him. He was a genuine nice guy and talked for a few minutes with each fan. Not many drivers do that anymore. This was one of the best days of my life. I was so excited after meeting him for days (and even now).

I just hope that Brad realizes what seems small — like signing an autographs or stopping for a picture — means the world to fans.

Now fast forward to last Saturday at Bristol. I found out that Brad would be making an appearance at the Ford tent.

Once again, I talked my sister into waiting for an hour to get the chance to meet Brad again. The time finally came for him to appear, and he high-fived fans on his way to the stage. One his way out, he didn’t have time for many autographs because he had other appearances. He is a busy man and champion, and I understand that about him. I held out my No. 2 Brad Keselowski hat out in hopes of him signing it.

Guess what? He did.

Once again, Brad had made my day of getting his autograph. I know this won’t mean much to most people, but when you are a simple small town girl, it matters. When you are from a small town of 2,000 people, you can only dream of one day meeting someone famous. I think Brad is the most genuine and down-to-earth famous person. I am so thankful that I have gotten to meet him twice. I am one of the lucky ones. I just hope that Brad realizes what seems small — like signing an autographs or stopping for a picture — means the world to fans.

Thank you Brad for all you do for us and the sport!

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However, set on a fuel strategy different from his competitors, BK’s fate rested on the caution flags that have been unkind to him for much of the 2013 season, and when one came out with 26 laps remaining, the No. 2 team had a decision to make.

They’d need a few more flags to fly in order to make it to the end of the race on fuel and if they didn’t, BK faced a finish outside the Top 20 that would have dropped him out of the Top 10 in the points standings with three races left until the Chase.

With that in mind, Crew Chief Paul Wolfe called the Blue Deuce down pit road for fuel with 26 laps to go, sending Brad back to 17th place. The race stayed green from there — the caution they would have needed never coming to fruition — and BK managed to battle his way to a 12th place finish that helped him maintain his eighth place position in points. But that was of little consolation to Brad.

For weeks BK has stressed the importance of wins heading into the Chase, making his decision to pit late a tough pill to swallow.

“It’s really unfortunate when you work to put yourself in position to capitalize on your strategy and the yellow flags don’t fall your way,” Brad said. “It is the same deal every week. That can’t keep going that way. It’s like blackjack. You aren’t going to keep turning 15 or 16 on every hand. Eventually you are going to turn a good hand. We just didn’t catch it today.”

Earlier in the season, Brad would likely have tried for the victory. But because of their tenuous position in the standings and the knowledge that just a few points difference could knock them down as far as 13th with three races remaining until the Chase cutoff, BK and Wolfe had no choice but to avoid the risk and take the sure points.

“It’s frustrating,” Wolfe said. “It was real tough. But we’re not in the greatest situation right now, points-wise, and the risk-versus-reward situation wasn’t adding up in my head.”

The result was especially frustrating, given the speed of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion at Michigan International Speedway. After starting in ninth, Brad quickly jumped into the top five by lap seven.

Three caution flags in the first 13 laps slowed the action at MIS but couldn’t slow the No. 2. By lap 35, BK had solidified his position in the top three, where he would remain for much of the race.

Yellow flags flew periodically throughout the day, which allowed the No. 2 team to keep the Blue Deuce running as fast as any machine at MIS. At the same time, the numerous cautions made strategy crucial for the contest.

The first major decision by BK and Wolfe came with just 50 laps remaining during the race’s seventh caution.  While many leaders stayed out, Brad pitted for two tires and fuel with hopes of making it the remainder of the race without stopping.

On the next yellow flag at lap 157 the leaders made their stops while Kes stayed on the track, pushing him up to first place for the second time in the race. But the No. 2 team still needed a couple of late cautions to conserve enough fuel to make it to the checkered flag.

Brad led the next 16 laps until another caution came on lap 174. At this point, BK and Wolfe weighed their options and, with some input from team owner Roger Penske, eventually decided the risk was too great.

“We made the gamble to win the race on the run before the yellow came out and then pretty much we were on a dead end strategy,” BK said. “No matter what you do, you were going to lose, so we had to pit there on that last yellow. That’s just kind of the way our season has been. We made the move to take a chance at winning the race and all the stakes go against us. But that’s racing.”

As Wolfe alluded to afterward, the decision was made with the Chase in mind and when it came down to it, the No. 2 team had to take the sure points.

“I knew if we pitted there we should hopefully get a top 15 out of it and still keep ourselves in the top 10 in points where we need to be,” Wolfe said. “And I know going into these next races, these are all tracks where I feel we’re capable of winning races, and we’ll get our wins. So today was just, have a good solid day, continue to work on our points, and we did that.”

As it turned out, BK, Wolfe and Penske made the right decision. Mark Martin, who was on the same fuel strategy as Brad, elected to stay on the track for the final caution and ran out of gas with four laps to go, dropping from 1st to 27th.

If Brad had stayed out, he would have likely finished 26th. That result would have earned him just 19 points and dropped him to 12th in the NSCS standings. Instead, he picked up 33 points with his 12th place finish and remained in eighth place, eight points above the Top 10 cutoff point.

Though the result was not exactly what the No. 2 team wanted, Brad’s pit stop and Martin’s empty tank paved the way for BK’s Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano to take his first victory of the season. Logano now sits in 13th place in the Cup standings and is a serious contender to make the Chase. As Wolfe remarked after the race, having a teammate in the Chase could prove invaluable — as long as it doesn’t come at Brad’s expense.

“It’s good to see our teammate in Victory Lane and obviously that’s going to help their cause in making the Chase,” Wolfe said. “We’ve just got to keep working. Both cars were fast today, so that’s encouraging.”

Though Brad badly wanted to win on his hometrack, Logano’s first Cup victory since joining Penske Racing ended up as the silver lining to BK’s otherwise cloudy day.

“It makes the day much easier to swallow,” Brad said. “Obviously, I wanted Joey as my teammate here at Penske Racing. I envisioned us both contending for wins on a regular basis. I think we are right there. I really feel we can win any of the next three races before the Chase.”

NEXT UP

After a string of afternoon races, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will be back under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway next weekend for the Irwin Tools Night Race on Saturday night.

BK has finished in the Top 3 in three of his last four appearances at Bristol, a string that has included two trips to victory lane.

Brad last won last spring at Bristol and won the Irwin Tools Night race back in 2011. The results at Bristol, as well as the other tracks remaining before the Chase (Atlanta and Richmond) have the Blue Deuce crew feeling confident. Despite a solid but unspectacular result at Michigan, Wolfe believes strongly in his team’s chances over the last three races.

“I feel like out of these four races we had, (MIS) was probably our weakest track,” Wolfe said. “Heading to Bristol, we’ve obviously got a lot of confidence there as well as Atlanta and Richmond, where we run well.”

The green flag for the Irwin Tools Night Race is scheduled to fly at Bristol shortly after 7:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday night and the race will be broadcast live on ABC.

RELATED ARTICLES

• Joey Logano makes Chase move after key win at Michigan (USA Today, August 18, 2013)
• Keselowski Still in 8th Place (Associated Press, August 19, 2013)
• For Keselowski, a difficult right call to make (NASCAR.com, August 18, 2013)
• Keselowski crosses the line in 12th place at Michigan (Penske Racing, August 19, 2013)
• Pure Michigan 400 Results (Jayski.com, August 18, 2013)

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It was great seeing Brad have a strong car again, and even leading a bunch of laps. I wanted to see him do some burnouts after the race, and I got to see him do them! Even if it wasn’t for his win, it was great seeing a Penske Racing entry win the race. 

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But while BK is encouraged by his recent hot streak, he’ll head to his home state for the Pure Michigan 400 this weekend with one thing on his mind: parking the Blue Deuce in Victory Lane.

“I would rather have a win or two and be a wild card than finish seventh or eighth and squeak my way in without any wins,” Brad said. “The momentum of a win and the confidence it instills in yourself and the fear that it puts in your competition is more than worth it.”

Kes will attempt to create that momentum on Sunday on what he considers one of his weaker tracks in Michigan International Speedway. The track at MIS was repaved for the 2012 season, and since then BK has managed three solid finishes of 13th, second and 12th at MIS, but he’s far from content with those results.

“Michigan, no doubt, has been one of my weaker tracks, especially since the repave,” BK said. “Repaved tracks, for whatever reason, have not been our strong suit…We did get a top-five finish there last year so I know we can do it. We’re confident that we can at least get a solid finish like we did in the spring there.”

Two months ago in the Quicken Loans 400 at MIS, Brad nearly captured a Top-5 finish but ran short of fuel on the final lap, forcing him to coast to 12th place at the checkered flag. But spring races at MIS have never been BK’s strong suit, as both before and after the repave he has been better in the fall at MIS.

In last year’s Pure Michigan 400, Brad finished second to Greg Biffle one year earlier he finished the same race in third behind Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson. In addition to his successful Cup runs at Michigan, BK took consecutive Nationwide Series wins at MIS— first in 2009 and the second 2010 as an integral part of his NNS title run.

The weekend at Michigan begins on Friday with the first practice session at Noon EDT will be followed by the race’s qualifying run at 3:30 p.m. EDT, both to be televised on SPEED. The No. 2 team will back at the track early Saturday morning for practice sessions at 8:30 and 11 a.m. EDT.

Those two runs will be broadcast on the brand new FOX Sports 1, which will be in its first day of production, taking the place of SPEED.

Looking ahead to this weekend, Brad is confident that Michigan can be a vital part of his run to the 2013 Chase as well.

“I’m optimistic that we can put together a good, solid afternoon on Sunday,” BK said. “I really see no reason why we can’t maintain our position in the points, if not improve it before the Chase starts.”

Green flag for the Pure Michigan 400 at MIS will drop Sunday at 1 p.m. EDT and the race will be broadcast live on ESPN.

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