News

BRISTOL, TN. (MARCH 14, 2014) – Team Penske once again excelled in NASCAR’s new “knockout qualifying” format on Friday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway, placing both of its cars in the final round and in the top four of the final standings.  Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion, qualified second for Sunday’s Food City 500 while teammate Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford will start behind him in fourth.

Keselowski had the eighth-fastest time in the first 30-minute session at Bristol, good enough to send him to the second round, where the fastest 12 drivers from the first round compete for the pole.  Keselowski made two runs during the second session, turning a best lap of 14.764 seconds (129.965 mph). Keselwoski has qualified on the front row in all three “knockout qualifying” sessions thus far this year.

“We have continued to show strength at Team Penske and that is evident on Fridays in these knockout qualifying sessions,” said Keselowski.  “To go out there and run the fastest time we had on our third run shows you the strength of the Miller Lite team and Team Penske in general.  My car is really good in race trim, as is the (No.) 22. I would say that’s a good start to the weekend.”

Logano turned the fastest time in the first 30-minute session but couldn’t back it up in the final 10 minutes, turning a time of 14.894 seconds (128.830 mph) to start fourth on Sunday.  Logano has now also qualified inside the top-10 in nine of his 11-career races at Bristol Motor Speedway.

By being the fastest in the first round, Logano has also sat atop the charts in four of the seven rounds of knockout qualifying that have been run this year (first session in Phoenix, second and third sessions in Las Vegas, first session in Bristol).

The Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway will air live Sunday, March 16 at 1:00 p.m. ET on FOX. Race coverage will also be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 90.