Brad Keselowski Racing
Brad Keselowski Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Started in 2007, it was owned and operated by NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series champion Brad Keselowski. The team most recently fielded the Nos. 19 and 29 Ford F-150s for Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe.[2] On August 17, 2017, BKR announced that they would suspend operations after the 2017 season.[3]
 | |
| Owner(s) | Brad Keselowski |
|---|---|
| Base | Statesville, North Carolina[1] |
| Series | Camping World Truck Series |
| Race drivers | 19. Austin Cindric (R) 29. Chase Briscoe (R) |
| Sponsors | 19. DrawTite, LTI Printing, Fitzgerald Glider Kits 29. Cooper Standard |
| Manufacturer | Ford |
| Opened | 2007 |
| Closed | 2017 |
| Career | |
| Debut | 2008 Toyota Tundra 200 (Nashville) |
| Latest race | 2017 Ford EcoBoost 200 (Homestead) |
| Races competed | 190 |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Race victories | 11 |
| Pole positions | 18 |
ARCA Racing Series
During the team’s inaugural season in 2007, BKR competed in select events in the ARCA Racing Series. With Robb Brent behind the wheel of the No. 00, the team earned one top-10 finish at Nashville Superspeedway. In 2009, Keselowski entered a part-time ARCA entry for DeWitt, Michigan driver, 17-year-old Chad Finley, son of former ARCA winner Jeff Finley. Finley won his first-career pole at Rockingham Speedway, though late race contact would relegate Finley to 15th in the final rundown. In 2010, Finley ran the No. 29 Chevrolet in a six ARCA races with sponsorship from Auto Value and Air Lift Services. His best finish of third was achieved at both Pocono and Rockingham.
Camping World Truck Series
Truck No. 2 history
Brad Keselowski Racing first raced a third truck, the No. 2, driven by Brad Keselowski on May 17, 2013 at Charlotte Motor Speedway
On February 8, 2016, it was announced that BKR would field a third truck entry with Austin Theriault driving the No. 2 Ford F-150 at Daytona. It previously ran in 2013 with Keselowski at Charlotte. On April 28, it was later announced that Austin Cindric and Austin Theriault would run additional races in the No. 2. Theriault and Cindric didn't qualify for their races at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Dover International Speedway due to owner point standings when rain caused NASCAR to cancel qualifying. However, Cindric made four starts later in the season at Bristol Motor Speedway, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Talladega Superspeedway and Phoenix International Raceway with sponsorship from Pirtek.
Truck No. 19 history
2008 saw BKR expand its operation to include participation in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Robb Brent signed on to drive the No. 19 Chevrolet for three races, with a best finish of 21st. Keselowski drove the No. 19 Chevrolet himself in the Lucas Oil 150 at the Phoenix International Raceway. Using the engine out of his race-winning Nationwide Series car from Bristol Motor Speedway, he started seventh and finished the race in the sixth position.
In 2012, team owner Keselowski also drove a second truck, the No. 19, for four races. Ryan Blaney drove it for one race, and David Mayhew for four races.
2013 was the first full-time season for BKR's No. 19 truck, the races shared by Ross Chastain (14), Keselowski (4), Joey Logano (3), and Ryan Blaney (1).
In 2014, the No. 19 truck got its first ever win, by Keselowski, who won his only Truck Series victory, at Bristol. Tyler Reddick ran 16 of the races in the No. 19, scoring 9 top tens, Joey Logano ran 2 races and Alex Tagliani ran the road course to fill out the full schedule.
In 2015, the No. 19 was driven full-time by Tyler Reddick, with Reddick winning two races (Daytona International Speedway, Dover International Speedway) before ultimately finishing second in the standings.
In 2016, Daniel Hemric joined the team, driving the No. 19 California Clean Power/Draw-Tite Ford. Hemric qualified for the inaugural NCWTS Chase and ended the season sixth in the driver point standings. Hemric departed to XFINITY Series competition at Richard Childress Racing in 2017.
Austin Cindric was named as full-time driver for the No. 19 Draw-Tite Ford F-150 in 2017 and is running for Rookie of the Year honors. Cindric won his first NCWTS race in the Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in his 22nd start in the series, and only two weeks after team owner Keselowski announced the team's closing at the end of the season.
Truck No. 19 results
Truck No. 29 history
Keselowski entered the team in eight NCWTS races in 2009, driving the Keselowski family's familiar No. 29. BKR brought Mikey Kile in for six races, J. R. Fitzpatrick in for one race, and Keselowski made one start at Bristol. The team earned its best finish of 10th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and its best finish of 11th (Milwaukee, Gateway), all with Kile behind the wheel. In 2010, the team competed in five NCWTS events, with Keselowski scoring a season-best finish of second at Gateway Motorsports Park.
In 2011, BKR fielded the No. 29 Ram for development driver Parker Kligerman. The team intended to run 15 races before Team Penske committed to sponsoring the team for the full season. Kligerman scored a few top fives but finished 11th in points. In 2012, Cequent Group and Cooper Standard sponsored the No. 29 team.[8] Due to a lack of performance, Kligerman was released from the No. 29 and Ryan Blaney was brought in to fill out the remaining schedule. Blaney immediately made a splash, winning at Iowa Speedway in his third start, earning the team its first victory. Blaney returned to the No. 29 Ford F-150 full-time in 2013, capturing the pole at Kentucky Speedway and the win at Pocono Raceway. In 2014 Blaney captured a win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in his full-time effort behind the wheel of the No. 29. Blaney finished second in the championship standings at the end of 2014.
In 2015 the No. 29 was split between various drivers throughout the season. Cup Series driver Joey Logano earned his first-career Truck Series win at the spring race at Martinsville Speedway,[9] and Ryan Blaney earned the team its second-consecutive win at Bristol Motor Speedway. Austin Theriault drove the truck for several races[10] until his injury at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In his place, Brad's brother Brian Keselowski drove the truck at Talladega Superspeedway,[11] and rookie Austin Cindric drove the truck for two races before Theriault's return in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. 2015 also saw BKR relocate from Mooresville, NC to its new facility in Statesville, NC. Reddick switched to the No. 29 for 2016.[12] Despite missing the inaugural Truck Series Championship Chase, Tyler Reddick won the DC Solar 350 at Las Vegas Speedway, leading the team to its first ever 1-2 finish in the NCWTS in what would be his last win for Brad Keselowski Racing. Reddick announced at Homestead-Miami Speedway that he would not be returning to BKR in 2017 to run for Chip Ganassi Racing in the XFINITY Series.
In 2017, Chase Briscoe was named as the full-time driver of the No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford F-150 to compete for Rookie of the Year honors, in addition to being named as the first driver in the Ford Performance Driver Development Program. Briscoe earned his first-career NCWTS pole at Dover International Speedway. He also won his first race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the final race of the season and for BKR.
Late model racing
BKR at one time also fielded an Outlaw Super Late Model, in Michigan, where Brad Keselowski is originally from. Australian driver Andrew Hagen moved to Michigan in 2009 to drive the car, originally from an open wheel/road racing background, using this class to gain experience in closed-body stock cars.
References
- Marusak, Joe (October 20, 2015). "Brad Keselowski Racing moving to Statesville". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- "Brad Keselowski Racing reveals 2017 Truck Series driver lineup". Fox News. 2017-01-22. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
- Spencer, Lee (August 17, 2017). "Brad Keselowski Racing to shut down at the conclusion of 2017 season". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
- "Tyler Reddick – 2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
- "Tyler Reddick – 2015 NASCAR Camping World Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
- "Daniel Hemric – 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
- "Austin Cindric – 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
- "Cooper Standard and Cequent Form Major Alliances With No. 29 Brad Keselowski Race Team: RAM Truck Entry Driven by Parker Kligerman for 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Season" (PDF). Cooper-Standard Automotive. Las Vegas, Nevada. shareholder.com. November 2, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
- "Kroger 250 Camping World Truck Series Martinsville Speedway I Recap".
- "Ryan Blaney to drive for Brad Keselowski Racing". NASCAR. Turner Sports. August 9, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
- "Our Newest Driver". Brad Keselowski. October 15, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
- "2012 JEGS/CRA Champion, Daniel Hemric Heading To Brad Keselowski Racing In 2016". Champion Racing Association. November 3, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2015.