After all, the day nearly ended in catastrophe before BK and his team even got going. So finishing where they did, in the fifth position, was no small feat. And it gave Brad a 19-point cushion on the fourth and final championship spot.

“It was a long day for everybody on the Wurth Ford Fusion team,” Brad said of the AAA Texas 500. “This is the best we ran on a mile-and-a-half in some time, so I’m happy about that. I’m disappointed with the way the race started. It probably cost us 10 or more points, but I’m happy with the rebound.”

However, it wasn’t all good news for the 2 team at Texas. The race win by Kevin Harvick, along with a great points day from Martin Truex Jr. locking the No. 78 into the championship, leaves just that one spot left in the championship.

Brad currently holds that spot, but a win at Phoenix next week by one of the other four playoff drivers: Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott or Jimmie Johnson, would serve to knock Brad from title contention, regardless of his own result. That potential outcome will make for a heart-stopping weekend in the desert.

“We’ll need to go and have a solid race at Phoenix next week and hope none of the other guys win,” BK said. “It’s doable, but it’s going to be a nail-biter next week for sure.”

That edgy action will likely echo Sunday’s race. As it so often seems to in the NASCAR playoffs,
drama took its course early in the second race of the Round of 8.

Incidental contact between the No. 2 and the No. 18 car of Kyle Busch on the opening lap caused a flat tire on the Wurth machine, sending the Deuce, which started the race from P10, down pit road. After a frantic pit stop to change out the worn rubber, the 2 Crew got BK back out on the track. But he resumed the race one lap down, in 39th position, a long road ahead of him to get back to the front of the field.

However, staying focused with championship determination proved to be a recipe for success on Sunday for the No. 2 team. BK pushed forward through the 85-lap first segment, finishing it in P26 even though his Ford was loose on a corner entry and tight on exit. But Kes was clearly resolute to fight through any and all issues he encountered along the way on this day.

Early in the second segment, he caught his first break of the day, when a caution flag came out with the 2 as the first car one lap down. The lucky dog put him back on the lead lap and positioned him well to squeeze his way up to 14th position by the end of the second segment.

From there BK willed his Wurth Ford machine up to 11th position on Lap 178, then not only broke into the Top 10, but the Top 5 before Lap 200. Maintaining a Top 5 position from there on out proved to be a task he was up for, despite several late caution periods near the close of the race, which kept fans on the edge of their seats.

For BK, the fifth-place finish was a masterclass in overcoming adversity. And NBC Sports commentator Kyle Petty said it best regarding the heart of a champion show by the entire 2 Crew on Sunday.

“There are moments in every season and every career that you look at and say, ‘That is a championship level performance’. What Brad Keselowski, Paul Wolfe and that Penske team did today is championship level,” Petty. “They fought their way back.”

The Top 5 finish was BK’s 15th of the season, leaving him two shy of a career-high in that department. Despite earning no bonus points for leading laps or Top 10 stage finishes, Brad still solidified his grip on the fourth championship spot, as he’ll take a 19-point lead over fifth place Hamlin to Phoenix.

However, the looming prospect of a new race winner out of the Round of 8 contenders will keep things competitive from the first green flag through checkers at Phoenix. Coverage of the Can-Am 500 begins at 2 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC with the green flag scheduled to wave at 2:37 p.m. ET.

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However, given the speed of the Toyota stable on mile-and-a-half tracks like this weekend’s venue, Texas Motor Speedway, BK and Co. know they have work left to be done. With that in mind, Brad and his team are ready to do whatever is necessary to advance to the Championship Round.

“This No. 2 Wurth Ford team is focused on the task ahead of us, and we’re committed to doing the work,” Brad said. “We’re going tap into the Penske ethos of ‘Effort equals Results’ and see what happens.”

Brad has found postseason success at Texas Motor Speedway before. He boasts two second-place finishes at the 1.5-mile Fort Worth, Texas track. The first came in 2012 and played an enormous role in his 2012 Cup Championship run.

The second came in 2015 and as one of the most dominant performances of Brad’s career. His fast Wurth Ford landed on the pole, and he led 312 of 334 laps. He couldn’t finish the victory, as Jimmie Johnson had his No. 48 tuned perfectly for the final run, whereas the previously dominant No. 2 didn’t quite have it in the end.

“We just came up a bit short,” BK said two years ago. “We didn’t have any thing to shrug our shoulders about or feel bad about—the 48 was just a little bit better at the end. I held him off as long as I could, but there was no stopping that much speed. It’s unfortunate, but I’m not going to focus on not winning the race—I’m going to focus on the great things we did today and the knowledge that if we keep running like this, there’s a strong chance we can win the next two races and this championship.”

Unfortunately, that didn’t quite come to fruition for the 2 Crew, as they were left just outside of the title picture in 2015—an outcome BK hopes to change in 2017.

BK has finished in the Top 20 in his last 10 Texas starts, including a sixth-place run there earlier this season. NASCAR Playoff drama was at an all-time high last week, and that likely won’t change when the series heads to Texas for the third-to-last race of the year.

The No. 2 team will have one practice session Friday (1 p.m. ET) and two more Saturday (3 and 5 p.m. ET) to fine-tune the Wurth machine. Qualifying is set for 6:15 p.m. ET Friday, and the AAA Texas 500 will go green at 2:16 p.m. ET on Sunday on NBCSN.

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The No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion was fast once again, as it started in the top five and remained right around its starting point throughout the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. With a strong machine, Brad navigated the newly repaved 1.5-mile track, leading four laps en route to his sixth straight finish of sixth or better.

“We just kind of seemed stuck in that fifth or sixth place range for most of the race,” Brad said. “We were fighting a few things and got a little better there at the end and maybe had a little bit more in the tank there if there was a little bit of time left but we just ran out of laps.”

The 500-mile afternoon started from P5 on the preferred inner line, as it allowed Brad to jump up a row to third before the lap 3 debris caution. On the following restart, he put the ‘Team’ in Team Penske as he let his two teammates – Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney down in front of his Deuce. Passing Clint Bowyer for P4 on lap 26, Kes finished there before the lap 30 Competition Caution was waved. Pitting for right sides and fuel, the stop dropped the 2 Crew a spot, providing them with the inner line once more.

Restarting fifth on lap 36, BK held the spot until the lap 61 when he overdrove Turn 1, losing positions to Martin Truex Jr. and Jamie McMurray. On a mission, the 2012 Champion drove past Logano and Bowyer to finish the Stage 1 in fifth. The 12.6-second full-service stop resulted in another two-spot drop, lining him up in seventh place on the lap 93 restart. Instantly, the Miller Lite Ford motored by points leader Kyle Larson and Erik Jones for fifth. But on lap 104, another slight bobble in Turn 1 let the drivers behind capitalize, as Larson, Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott drove by, putting Kes back to ninth. A lap 122 debris caution let Wolfe put a fresh set of rubber on the Miller Lite Ford while many other teams only elected to replace two tires. Taking the green flag from 11th, he was able to climb as high as P8 when Stage 2 ended on lap 170. Kes earned 13 stage points for a total of 40 on the afternoon.

Staying out under the Stage 2 yellow, it prepared Keselowski for a second-place restart next to Kevin Harvick on lap 178. Thirty laps into the run, another small wiggle sent him back to fourth as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Truex passed by. Pitting under green on lap 224, the 2 Crew changed all four tires and filled the tank with Sunoco racing fuel. A few laps into the run, BK radioed in saying the car was the worst it had been all day, saying it felt like 1,000 pounds of air in each tire.

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“We’ve been as close there

[Texas] as we have been at Martinsville in the past,” Brad said after his win last week at Martinsville Speedway. “Right now I feel we can win anywhere.”

While Brad has found a share of near-victories at the 1.5-mile quad oval, the notebook goes out the window as the aged surface has been replaced with fresh asphalt. Drivers who tested on the reconfigured TMS surface have compared it to Kentucky Speedway after its repave, which bodes well for the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion team. BK led 75 of 267 laps in the debut of the new Kentucky surface—including the last one.

The new track layout features reduced banking in Turn 1 and 2, making the circuit drastically different on both ends. Compared to a demanding track like Darlington Raceway in that sense, BK & Co. are leaders at adapting to tricky tracks and changing conditions.

Along with that, team leader and crew chief Paul Wolfe will return to the track this weekend as their post-Phoenix penalty appeal is set for Wednesday, April 12. After watching Wolfe lead the Miller 2 Crew to victory a week ago at The Paperclip, team owner Roger Penske understands just how important it is for his crew chief to be on the box and adding to his Playoff notebook.

“Look, I need him on that box every weekend,” Penske said. “I told him I’d pay him to be on that box every weekend not to be sitting in his motor home looking at a bunch of monitors. Really the strategy was that we’d take a race off last week and then make the appeal and I guess we’ll be coming back here in a week or so, so it was good to get the experience here on this track, obviously, because it’ll be in the Playoffs.”

Currently holding two victories to his credit, Kes boasts 10 Playoff points and wants to grow that number as high as he can before the checkered flag flies in Richmond to signal the end of the regular season. Currently, his 10 points are the most of any driver, one more than Martin Truex Jr. in second place with nine. Additionally, the 2 Crew sits 34 points outside of the regular season standings, which can provide an additional Playoff point boost after the first 26 events.

Drivers are able to earn Playoff points by winning Stages (at one point a piece), which has eluded Brad thus far. But the big point boost comes from leading the final lap, which BK has done twice to the tune of five points apiece, and he’s looking to add five more on Sunday.

“Texas has been a track very similar to Martinsville for us where we’ve led a lot of laps and been in front,” the Michigan native said. “I’ve made some mistakes at the end and haven’t brought it home. That’s something we’re certainly going to carry into [Texas].”

With the record Pole speed at 199.299 mph in 2014, the new racing surface, paired with the 2017 aero package and smaller spoiler will entertain fans with some insane straightaway speeds. To see if Kes can go back-to-back, tune into the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 from Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 9 at 1:30 p.m. ET, live on FOX.

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Brad piloted the Discount Double Deuce to a second-place finish, leading 145 of 200 laps along the way.

“We had a really strong car and we made a major stride forward with this team and this program which feels really good,” Brad said. “I am very happy about the speed we had and being able to lead a lot of laps and am disappointed to not be able to bring it home there at the end. All in all, it was a good weekend for the 22 Discount Tire Ford XFINITY team.”

BK started his NXS run by snagging the Coors Light Pole award—his first in the series since 2014. At a speed of 186.909mph, he tied with fellow Michigander Erik Jones, and the top spot went to the No. 22 team, which ranked higher in Owners’ Points.

Once the green flag dropped, it was only out briefly. Choosing to start on the outside line, Brad quickly realized it wasn’t the way to go, and dropped to fourth. On lap six, he began to climb back up, passing Regan Smith for third, before a lap eight caution for Brandon Hightower spinning on the apron.

Restarting third on lap 13, Kes zipped past the No. 19 of Daniel Suarez, and 10 laps later, he passed the No. 20 of Jones for the lead. As the run ensued, the Double Deuce’s lead continued to grow until it rolled down pit road under green on lap 49 for scheduled maintenance. Swapping four tires and fuel in 12.3 seconds, the 22 Crew kept their driver out front when the cycle completed.

The second yellow flag flew on lap 71 when Ray Black Jr. spun out. Crew chief Greg Erwin elected to call Kes back in, where they put on a fresh set of rubber and topped off the tank in 12.5 seconds. The quick stop set them up for a lap 76 restart from the lead, where Brad gapped the field by over four seconds when the next debris caution waved on lap 91. Once again pitting for a set of Goodyear Eagles and fuel in 12.3 seconds, the speedy pit work sent BK out first for the lap 96 restart. As another long run broke out, it ended when Matt DiBenedetto made hard contact with the wall on lap 134. 

Kes pitted again for new tires, and the 22 Crew topped off the tank with Sunoco racing fuel, and provided wedge and air pressure adjustments in 11.8 seconds. The speedy stop locked up another P1 start for the No. 22 on lap 142, which stretched through lap 166 when Brandon Hightower’s motor expired. Erwin called BK back in for their last set of sticker tires, where the 12.6 second stop placed them back out front for the lap 171 restart.

Taking the green flag with 30 laps to go, Kyle Larson pinched Kes down to the apron, while sucking the air off his Ford Mustang, causing him to drop back to second. After regaining composure, Brad came back to take a run at Larson, but it wasn’t enough.

“Whatever car got out front with the way the aerodynamics are is going to control the pace,” BK said on chasing down the leader. “It is so hard to pass because the aero is so important and the cars are so equal that way. I thought maybe we were a touch faster, but without the track position, you lose too much grip behind the guy to do anything.”

Still, the strong finish has Roger Penske’s No. 22 atop the Owners’ Points Standings and in excellent position to advance to the championship round.

Brad will control the reigns of the car one more time this season, next week at Phoenix International Raceway for the Ticket Galaxy 200, airing live on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 7:30p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.

A Texas Sized Performance for Team BKR

With both drivers removed from Chase contention, the Brad Keselowski Racing duo of Daniel Hemric and Tyler Reddick stormed into the Lone Star State to show their abilities. Qualifying P2 and P5, respectively, their F-150’s had some single lap speed — but later proved to have long run speed as well.

Daniel Hemric scored a third place result, marking his 10th Top 5 of the season. Keeping himself in the Top 5 all race long, he led 38 laps along the way to another strong 1.5-mile performance.

“First off, I have to thank all my guys on pit road. We’ve been working really hard back at the shop and trying to perfect our pit stop stuff, so hats off to those guys for keeping us in contention,” Hemric said. “We had a really fast Blue Gate Bank Ford F-150, but about 10 or 15 laps into a run, our truck’s handling would make a big swing and give up a lot of front grip and then overall grip. I thought we would have good short-run speed on that final run, but I gave up grip even earlier that run than what we thought it would. I’m really proud of everyone at Brad Keselowski Racing for giving all the effort they could. I just really wish we could win one of these things.”

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Kes led 62 laps in this event last year, and he knows that to make it back-t0-back wins, he’ll have to work for it.

“It wasn’t a gimme race by any stretch of the imagination,” BK said after last year’s win in Texas. “We had to earn it, and we did just that with a strong, consistent day.”

Brad ran Texas in the spring NXS event, establishing his season-best third-place finish. And he felt that was a stepping stone toward the program getting back on track.

“It was a decent day for the Discount Tire Ford and for our XFINITY program,” Brad said. “We haven’t really started off the year like we wanted, but we’ve got a little bit of momentum. I think we’re starting to get our cars a little bit better. Of course, we want to win and you look at the format the XFINITY Series has and winning is really all that kind of matters.”

This weekend will mark BK’s 14th appearance in NASCAR’s second-tier event, so far amassing four Top 5s and 10 Top 10s, but in the series all about winning, the 2010 series Champion has yet to do that.

His stats at Texas Motor Speedway aren’t shabby either. In 17 total starts, he owns a pair of wins, 11 Top 5s, and 13 Top 10s while spending a total of 282 laps out front of the field. Even more impressive is how, dating back to the start of the 2013 season, Kes has never placed outside the podium.

For both Brad, and team owner Roger Penske, TMS holds a special place in their hearts. In the fall of 2010, Kes wheeled the No. 22 Discount Tire machine to Team Penske’s first NASCAR title, two weeks ahead of the finale.

“I’m thrilled for my Discount Tire/Ruby Tuesday team,” said Keselowski. “This is an awesome team that just fights real hard.”

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The No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion driver led 10 laps and finished fourth in the FireKeepers Casino 400. BK had a look at passing race winner Joey Logano late in the afternoon at Michigan International Speedway, but he couldn’t quite clear the Team Penske No. 22, forcing him to settle for his seventh straight Top 10 finish.

“Frustrated. I thought we had a shot at winning this one. We had a really fast Miller Lite Ford and just couldn’t quite get the push I needed on the restart there to clear Joey,” Brad said afterward. ” I’m glad a Team Penske car won. Of course I wish it was our team. But in our hometown, to get a win for Ford, that’s really good too.”

Rolling to the green from the 15th starting position, Kes knew that sticking in the middle of the pack while driving a new, reduced downforce package could spell disaster. Swallowed up in the opening lap rush, the Deuce dropped a position to 16th before reeling the competition back in.

Lap eight saw him get around the Roush Fenway cars of Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Two laps later, Brad also managed to get by Jamie McMurray, and then on lap 31, he made quick work of Ryan Newman. Running idle on lap 32, activity was soon to begin on pit road as the crew chiefs formulated their race strategies.

By lap 42, all of the leaders made their way to pit road—except for Keselowski, allowing him to lead seven laps. Crew chief mastermind Paul Wolfe put the efficiency of his car to the test as he left it on the track longer than any others. Right as he crossed the stripe on the 46th lap, Brad reported that his fuel pressure instantaneously dropped to zero. The freak occurrence startled the driver, but he miraculously kept on motoring. Seconds later, and without a moment to spare, Martin Truex Jr. lost the handle of his No. 78 Furniture Row Toyota and spun out. The loop around sparked the first yellow flag of the day, and allowed Wolfe & Co. to service their machine, fitting it with four tires and a full tank of Sunoco racing fuel.

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