It’s safe to say, it’s been a good week for Brad Keselowski.
Last weekend at Bristol, Tenn. the team he now has part-ownership in, Roush-Fenway-Keselowski Racing with driver Chris Buescher earned its first race trophy since he joined the organization this year.
And now, only a few days later, Keselowski answered that positive momentum with his first pole position in the year since he became an owner on the team.
“It’s certainly a lot of progress,’’ Keselowski said, adding, “You do things in this sport and it takes six to eight months to be noticed. It takes months and months of hard work for it all to come together and it’s super painful.
Keselowski put his No. 6 RFK Ford Mustang on the pole for Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with a lap of 188.990 mph around the 1.5-mile Texas high banks – marking his first pole position since the 2019 season; although Keselowski reminded that the series didn’t hold qualifying sessions during the 2020 COVID-19 season.
This is the 2012 series champion Keselowski’s 18th career pole. He is looking for his first NASCAR Cup Series win at Texas Motor Speedway.
Keselowski’s former Team Penske teammate, Joey Logano will start alongside him on the first row. Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron and Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick will start their Chevrolets from the second row.
Six Playoff cars advanced to Final Qualifying on Saturday morning. In addition to Logano and Byron, current championship leader Chase Elliott was sixth fastest. Denny Hamlin (eighth), Kyle Larson (ninth) and Daniel Suarez (10th) rounded out the Second Round qualifiers. Austin Cindric , who was 11th quickest was the top qualifying rookie.
“Obviously, very proud to show speed,’’ Keselowski said, noting he has to remember to stop sometimes and reflect on the progress.
“Now it’s actually starting to show up. It’s been a painful journey, but a good one.’’
Richard Childress Racing swept opening practice at Texas. Although just eliminated from Playoff contention, Austin Dillon – a 2020 Texas winner – and Reddick were the fastest two cars in practice with Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet turning a fast lap of 187.643 mph. Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, Logano and Petty GMS Racing’s Erik Jones rounded out the Top-5 in practice.
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