BK showed once again that he’s the driver to beat on restrictor plate tracks—and especially at NASCAR’s longest track in Talladega. Kes now boasts five trips to Victory Lane at the 2.66-mile Alabama track, good for sole possession of fourth place all-time, just one win behind Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ironically, Brad’s No. 2 Miller Lite machine was paying homage to Dale Jr. in the win, making a spectacular weekend that much more special.

“This is still sinking in,” BK said. “It is a special place to get to race and a special place when you win here. It was really a collaborative effort with the team and getting a real fast car and making the right moves as a driver and a lot of help from up above with staying out of those wrecks. It really takes all three and we had them all today.”

Only 14 cars finished the race, including just 12 on the lead lap in a wild afternoon of restrictor plate racing. Brad managed to skirt through each wreck—successfully filling the luck factor that is vital to a win at Talladega. And for part of the race, BK did it with no contact whatsoever with his crew chief Paul Wolfe or his sponsor Joey Meier, who is always instrumental to his success in restrictor plate events.

“It was one of those crazy days,” Brad said. “I think we have seen that at the plate tracks this year. A lot of attrition. Everything that could happen to us today did happen. From the radio problem to coming from the back a couple of times, we just were up against it today.  Thankfully, with the moves we were able to make and the help of got from my spotter (Joey Meier). We just stuck with it and we were able to win.”

Early on, Team Penske employed some strategy to earn a Stage 1 win. Brad and his teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney slipped back out of line midway through the first stage and pitted early. As a result, they cycled out to the front for the conclusion of the first stage, earning Brad a valuable playoff point, as well as 10 extra stage points. Brad later finished ninth in Stage 2, just one position behind Blaney away from a Talladega sweep.

Late in that second stage, the Miller Lite Ford lost its radio antenna, leaving Brad out in the cold. With no contact with his spotter, BK slid back to 15th before pitting under green at lap 145. On this stop, Kes made a power move, passing several drivers before slowing his machine down entering pit road. During the two-tire stop, Brad’s crew tried to hook him up with a new antenna, but only a partial connection was made.

After a caution with 33 laps to go, BK made a speech about how he could win the race without the radio, but Wolfe called him back down pit road. The Miller 2 Crew successfully repaired the radio, and the three men who know their way around a restrictor plate track as well as anyone in the sport were connected once again.

Kes restarted 30th with 29 laps to go and regained 10 spots. He then skated through several massive wrecks relatively unscathed, and after three red flags totaling more than 30 minutes of downtime, Brad found himself leading the remaining field with three laps to go. Ryan Newman led taking the white flag, but BK could not be denied at his best track. Kes used one final bump from his teammate, Logano, to gain the final edge over Newman and lead his seventh lap of the race as the checkered flag flew.

“It’s nice to be locked into the next round, but then again, we still have work to do,” BK said. “We aren’t going to be happy until we are racing in Homestead for a Championship.”

MENCS PLAYOFF STANDINGS

1. Martin Truex Jr. – 3120*
2. Brad Keselowski – 3101*
3. Kyle Larson – 3096
4. Kevin Harvick – 3089
5. Denny Hamlin – 3088
6. Chase Elliott – 3087
7. Ryan Blaney – 3076
8. Jimmie Johnson – 3074

— ROUND OF 8 CUTLINE —

9. Kyle Busch – 3067
10. Matt Kenseth – 3066
11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 3052
12. Jamie McMurray – 3045

* – Clinched Round of 8 Berth

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BK will sport a special Miller Lite paint scheme on his No. 2 Ford Fusion, a nod to Brad’s first ride, the NAVY 88 he drove for Dale Jr.’s XFINITY Series team.

“Dale and I are great friends, and he gave me a chance to drive for him in 2007, and that opportunity changed my life,” Brad said. “I was very, very fortunate to drive for him, and to have his help building a career. I don’t know if I’d be where I am without him, but I’m glad I don’t have to find out. So to honor my friend and everything he’s done for me, we’re going to be racing at Talladega this weekend with a new paint scheme, an homage to my days driving the NAVY 88.”

In that special paint scheme, Brad will look to improve his standing in the Monster Energy Cup Series playoffs. After finishing 15th at Charlotte, BK enters the second Round of 12 race in 10th place, though he’s just two points behind the eighth-place cutline. But given Dega’s unpredictable nature, Brad knows he’ll have to be on his game for the Alabama 500.

“Everybody enters Talladega with a strategy,” Brad said. “Then they drop the green.”

Fortunately, few drivers know their way around the 2.66-mile track better than Brad. He boasts four wins at the restrictor plate surface, including a monumental playoff win there in 2014.

“Talladega has been good to me,” Brad said. “Winning four times means a lot here. Talladega has been a track for us that’s been a great catalyst for success. I don’t know why that is. It’s a track where if you’re capable of winning here, I think you show a certain level of attitude and swagger.”

If he can replicate that performance, he’ll be in the Round of 8. There are two practice sessions set for Friday at 1 and 3 p.m. ET. Qualifying is set for 4 p.m. ET Saturday. The Alabama 500 will go green at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

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A 16-car pileup unfolded before Brad Keselowski’s eyes on Sunday afternoon, but with some help from spotter Joey Meier, BK managed to check up and survive without major damage—allowing the No. 2 Fitzgerald Glider Kits Ford Fusion team to score its eighth Top 10 in 10 races this year, crossing in seventh.

“We survived,” Brad said. “It just seemed like when we needed to catch a good break we caught a bad one.”

Starting from third place on the inside line, BK worked with polesitter and fellow Ford Performance driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to clear fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. for second. On lap 15, Brad managed to juke past the polesitter (and eventual race winner) and place his new-look Green and Black Deuce out in the lead. Two laps later, the first caution of the afternoon flew when points leader Kyle Larson slapped the wall. Reporting that his No. 2 was towards the free side in the early stages, substitute crew chief Brian Wilson made a wedge adjustment, along with topping off the fuel tank in 5.0 seconds. Taking a third place restart on lap 22, it took another 11 laps to reclaim the lead from Kyle Busch, and Kes held that spot until the end of the first Stage for his second stage win this year.

Taking a third place restart on lap 22, it took another 11 laps to reclaim the lead from Kyle Busch, and Kes held that spot until the end of the first Stage for his second stage win this year. That earned him 10 points in the Cup standings, as well as a coveted playoff point, giving him a series-high 12 on the season.

The 55 lap Stage 1 ended at a perfect time as the Fitzgerald Glider Kits Fusion’s nose was caked with debris, as the driver himself said the track is littered with garbage. Pitting for a fresh set of Goodyear Eagles and fuel in 13.2 seconds, he lost six spots as rookie Daniel Suarez was entering his pit box right in front of the No. 2 Ford’s box. Taking the green flag on lap 63 from P7, within two laps Keselowski was up to third, and made an aggressive slice on Kyle Busch for second the next time by. While attempting to pass leader Kevin Harvick, the No. 2 was hung out to dry, falling outside the Top 10 and wasn’t able to recover when Stage 2 ended on lap 110 as he finished 13th.

Taking only two tires under the Stage 2 caution, it was enough to reclaim the lost track position and put the Ford Fusion back up to third place for a lap 117 restart. Two laps later, Brad was able to position himself back to the lead for a three-lap stint. Pitting under green on lap 149 for sticker tires and fuel, BK cycled out P25, but made it up to 12th when Ryan Blaney wrecked on the backstretch on lap 160. Restarting on lap 165, the race had been relatively clean and incident free — but at Talladega, anything can, and will happen.

Three laps into the run, the famed Big One arrived and claimed 16 cars, most notably A.J. Allmendinger and Chase Elliott who flipped. Brad’s Fitzgerald Ford sustained minor nose damage that the team was able to repair and clear the 5:00 Crash Clock. Once the red flag was lifted and racing resumed on lap 173 it became clear that the No. 2 machine still had plenty of speed as it clawed from 24th to inside the Top 10 in just four laps.

The GEICO 500 saw two more quick cautions before the race ended—one for Landon Cassill’s car that stopped on track, and the other for Ryan Newman wrecking on the backstretch. Taking the final green flag on lap 188 from 12th, Brad was able hang in and draft his way up with the front pack, edging Jimmie Johnson at the start/finish line for seventh.

“We had a good restart there at the end and just couldn’t get to the front,” the Michigan driver said. “We had a good day. We won the first stage and was really proud of the No. 2 Fitzgerald Glider Kits team. After that, we just kept getting pinned back. I tried to pit and the yellow came out when we pitted and lost track position in Stage 2. We fought back and did the best we could and then the big wreck happened and got torn up.”

Polesitter Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ended up piloting his Ford Fusion to Victory Lane for the first time in his career, giving Ford Performance its fifth win in 10 races this season, including both restrictor plate events. For Stenhouse, the road to his first career victory came after a little help from another driver who also snagged his first career win at Dega.

“I had to ask Brad Keselowski how to start a race on the pole,” Stenhouse said in Victory Lane.

Stenhouse became the eighth race winner this year, punching his ticket to the Playoffs. Meanwhile, Kes remains one of two drivers with two wins on the season. BK earned 40 points for his efforts, the third best points day of any driver at Talladega, and good enough to vault him from fourth to third in the MENCS standings, where he is 61 points behind Kyle Larson.

Next up, the Monster Energy Cup Series tour heads to Kansas Speedway for the GoBowling.com 400. At a track where Brad and the Miller 2 Crew have seen their share of success, they’ll try to continue it under the lights on May 13 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

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“Everybody enters Talladega with a strategy,” Brad said. “Then they drop the green.”

Leading his first ever MENCS lap at Talladega in 2009, it came in the most dramatic fashion ever for the Michigan-born driver, making a last-lap pass of Carl Edwards for his first career win. When asked what he remembers from the race:

“Every second of it. I’ll never forget,” Brad says.

If BK is going to create another memorable race for his team and Miller 2 Crew fans alike, it will be done without the assist of his crew chief Paul Wolfe. Serving his second of three suspended weekends, Wolfe turns the shot calling over to former No. 2 race engineer Brian Wilson. In his first fill in race at Fontana earlier this season, Wilson salvaged a tumultuous start into a P2 finish.

In addition to having someone new on the box, the No. 2 team will have someone new on the side of the car, as Team Penske XFINITY Series sponsor Fitzgerald Glider Kits has stepped up to the Cup level. In their first of two MENCS sponsored events, Brad will pilot their green and black livery both this weekend at Dega, along with the final regular-season race at Richmond in September.

In his 16 Talladega starts, the 2012 Champion has placed some amazing numbers on the board. Now with four wins to his credit, he owns the second most wins at the 2.66-mile track, falling short to restrictor plate master and former team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. Even when the afternoon doesn’t end in a win, it’s not a throwaway, as Brad has nine Top 10’s and 181 laps led to his credit.

Proving that the 2009 last-lap maneuver wasn’t a fluke, Kes backed it up with a win in the events 2012 running. Followed with a clutch Playoff win in 2014 and victories in two restrictor plate races last year, he’s established himself as one of the ultimate contenders on these superspeedways.

He nearly added a fifth win at Talladega this past fall, leading a race-high 90 laps before his engine expired with 50 laps to go.

“Talladega has been good to me,” Brad said. “Winning four times means a lot here. Talladega has been a track for us that’s been a great catalyst for success. I don’t know why that is. It’s a track where if you’re capable of winning here, I think you show a certain level of attitude and swagger that carries your way through the rest of the year.”

Sunday’s GEICO 500 is slated to kick off at 2 p.m. ET on FOX. Tune in to see if BK can score his third win of 2017, and fifth in Talladega to add to his Alabama legacy.

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BK led a race-high 90 laps in the Hellmann’s 500, but a piece of debris led to an engine failure for the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion with less than 50 laps to go. As a result, the seemingly inevitable win disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and a 38th-place finish ended Brad’s 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship hopes.

“We had a really fast Miller Lite Ford, and I’m really proud of the effort,” Brad said. “We came here to win and we were doing what we needed to do to win, and it just didn’t play out. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

The weekend started off very promising for the 2 Crew. BK was incredibly pleased with his car in practice, and he qualified second. Brad snatched the lead away from Martin Truex Jr. on the first lap, and he ran up front all day long, right where he wanted to be.

Kes held the lead for the first 12 laps before trading the spot with Truex, but Brad took it back just two laps later. It was a common theme throughout the day: Whenever BK relinquished the top spot, he took it right back. He led nine times on the day, and twice as many laps as any other driver. Race winner Joey Logano was second, leading the final 45 laps.

All the time out front caused Brad to pick up debris several times throughout the day, first around lap 20. That forced him to drift back to third place, using Chase Elliott and Greg Biffle to remove the trash. But once again, he maneuvered his way through the drafting lines right back to the lead at lap 32, holding it until making his first pit stop of the day under green at lap 38. The Team Penske crew put a set of Goodyear Eagles on and filled the tank with fuel in 13.3 seconds, holding the top spot when the field cycled through at lap 41.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. briefly swiped the lead from Brad just before the first yellow flag of the day at lap 42. Truex saw the motor of his No. 78 let go, ending his bid for a title. Restarting P2 on lap 48, Kes reclaimed the lead from Stenhouse Jr. and held it until being shuffled back to seventh on lap 63. A single-file line broke out, but Brad wasn’t complacent. The No. 2 Ford driver made some bold-but-brilliant moves to step out of line and side-draft his way up to the front.

Methodically picking off competitors one at a time, Brad moved to second behind Chase Elliott at lap 78, and just two laps later, he passed the rookie to reclaim the lead. On that same lap, he guided the leaders down pit road. The 13.5-second stop for a fresh set of rubber and a fill of Sunoco racing fuel allowed him to cycle out second behind Kurt Busch. Clearing the No. 41 a few laps later, the Michigan native once again controlled the pace for a 20 lap stretch.

On lap 111, the engine temperature rose above the comfortable level as a piece of trash adhered to the nose of his Ford, forcing BK to drop a few spots and remove the debris. Falling back to ninth, a caution came out right then as Jeffrey Earnhardt wrecked on pit entry, collecting Casey Mears and Greg Biffle. Using the yellow as an opportunity to pit, crew chief Paul Wolfe called his driver in for servicing as the 2 Crew gained three positions.

Setting up for a sixth place restart at lap 121, Keselowski instantly jumped to P2, and two laps later, he made another spectacular move to pass Denny Hamlin for the lead. The tremendous pass for the lead made it look like Brad couldn’t be stopped en route to his third straight restrictor plate win, which would’ve put him in esteemed company alongside Dale Earnhardt, who stands as the only driver ever to win three straight races at either Talladega or Daytona.

But following another 20-lap stint out front, debris once again plagued the Miller Lite machine as water and oil temperatures shot up. Executing a perfect move with Penske-affiliated teammate Ryan Blaney, Brad was able to suck up to the No. 21’s bumper to remove most of the trash, but it was all too late, as the internal damage had been done. One lap later, the Roush Yates motor expired.

“I don’t know,” Brad said of the engine failure. “I’m not an engine guy, but the car was really strong and we definitely kept finding debris. I thought I got it cooled off and only got it slightly over, but I don’t know…We had a really fast Miller Lite Ford and that kind of ended our day. It was a lot of fun to be leading at Talladega. I really like this track. It’s been good to us and there are a lot of great fans here today. We were doing the best we could to make a show of it and have some fun and lead some laps and just happy and proud to have a fast car.”

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It’s a familiar situation for Brad. In 2014, he went to Talladega, where only a victory would send him to the next round, and he got exactly the clutch victory he needed. And earlier this year, he captured his fourth career win at the 2.66-mile Alabama superspeedway, giving him plenty of confidence going into this critical Hellmann’s 500.

“Talladega, the plate tracks have been very good to us this year,” he said. “I know that we’ll have another great car.”

Long before this season, and well before his signature 2014 win, the fastest track in the world has been kind to BK. Kes claimed his first career Sprint Cup Series win at Dega in only his fifth start in 2009. His last-lap maneuver on Carl Edwards remains one of the most memorable moments in recent NASCAR history.

His second career triumph at Talladega came in 2012 as a much-needed momentum-building win on the road to his first Sprint Cup Series championship.

“What can I say? Talladega has been good to me,” Brad said. “Winning four times means a lot here. Talladega has been a track for us that’s been a great catalyst for success. I don’t know why that is. It’s a track where if you’re capable of winning here, I think you show a certain level of attitude and swagger that carries your way through the rest of the year.”

Two years after his Cup championship, his hopes for a second title were in grave danger. A disastrous Kansas race, marred by a blown tire, sent him to the unpredictable restrictor-plate event in need of a win. He made a last-lap pass of Ryan Newman to win and advance—if he would’ve finished second, he wouldn’t have had enough points to move on.

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Over the course of the 188-lap event 35 of the starting 40 race cars took damage, leaving just five unscathed from major incident, including Brad’s White Lite. Each race on the massive Alabama tri-oval creates an expectation of “The Big One,” but many around the sport thought that the four Big Ones seen on Sunday were just too big. Marred by four major crashes, the Talladega race ended up with the cars of Chris Buescher and Matt Kenseth gaining some air time. In the media center, the race winner and his crew chief Paul Wolfe weighed in on the collisions, and the state of safety in NASCAR.

“I think it’s part of the allure to coming here, is that you don’t know what you’re going to get. As a racer and a driver, you have to be prepared for either way and take advantage of the situation and we were able to do that today with an all around solid day,” Brad said. “I’ve been asked about the crashes, but I didn’t see it, thankfully because I was in front of them. But that’s how Talladega goes. I hate it to hear about cars flipping and those things, nobody wants that. Some accidents here and there, we may not cheer about it, but it’s part of the sport and always has been part of automobile racing.”

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