News

Track:    Texas Motor Speedway
Race:     O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge
Date:     November 5, 2016

No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – Brad Keselowski

Start: 1st – 20th career pole position
Finish: 2nd
Status: Running
Laps Completed:  200/200
Laps Led: 145
Owner's Points Position:  1st

Recap: Brad Keselowski and the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang team displayed the kind of dominance that led them to the last three NASCAR XFINITY Series Owners Championships during the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) on Saturday afternoon, but had to settle for a second-place finish after losing the lead on the last restart of the race. Keselowski began the race from the pole position for the first time since the 2015 edition of this race, but lost the top spot on the initial start of the race. After settling into the fourth position, the 2012 series champion slowly worked his way back to the front of the field and took the lead at lap 24. He would not relinquish the lead for 145 laps that included five trips to pit road. Crew chief Greg Erwin made slight chassis adjustments early in the event and the Discount Tire crew held serve with solid pit stops all day. Following the final caution period of the day at lap 166, Keselowski led the field to the green flag at lap 171, but was passed on the restart by eventual race winner, Kyle Larson. Despite running several laps faster than Larson over the closing laps, Keselowski could not mount a final charge to the win, crossing the finish line in the second position. The finish was the sixth-consecutive, top-three finish for Keselowski at TMS and vaulted the No. 22 team into the lead in the owners standings with two races remaining in the 2016 season.

Quote: "We had a really strong car and we made a major stride forward with this team and this program which feels really good. 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."