NCWTS: Brad Keselowski Racing 2016 Review, 2017 Preview

Brad Keselowski Racing ran two full-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams with a third part-time entry for five races in 2016. Racing in their second full-time season, Daniel Hemric piloted the No. 19 while Tyler Reddick piloted the No. 29 Ford F-150. Austin Cindric ran the third part-time entry in four races while Austin Theriault made one start in the No. 2 Ford.

Tyler Reddick had a lot of success coming into the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. He ended 2015 with two victories, 14 top five and 19 top 10 finishes through 23 races. He held an average finish of 6.3 and led 117 laps all throughout 2015.

Reddick went into the Nextra Energy Resources 250 as the defending race winner. The California native started 12th and had a clean race going until lap 94. He was involved in an 18-truck crash over in turn three with six laps remaining in the event. Luckily for Reddick, he could continue to grab an 18th-place finish.

Reddick would grab top 20 finishes over the course of the next three races at Atlanta, Martinsville and Kansas. This would place him 14th in points as the series went into the Dover International Speedway for its fifth race of the year. Dover provided Reddick’s first top 10 finish of the season and would start a streak that would last over the next three races.

At Gateway Motorsports Park, race nine of 23, Reddick would start seventh and lead the field for 41 of the 160 laps. Despite leading laps, his night would be a frustrating one for the No. 29 team. Reddick would tangle with teammate Daniel Hemric over in turn three on lap 73. Both drivers would be able to continue in the race. On lap 150, with 10 laps remaining, Reddick got into an eight-truck crash that would end his night. The No. 29 BKR team scored a 25th-place finish in their first DNF of the year.

Despite the DNF at Gateway, Reddick would capture top 10 finishes in the next two races at Kentucky and Eldora Speedway. At Eldora, Reddick started second and took his No. 29 Ford to a fifth-place finish in the series annual dirt track visit. The next race, at Pocono Raceway, BKR’s No. 29 team would have another DNF finish. He would bring out the caution on lap six over in turn one. Despite continuing after that incident, Reddick would tangle with teammate Daniel Hemric on lap 29 over in turn one. With Hemric continuing, Reddick would not and leave the triangle track with a 26th-place run.

Reddick would capture a 14th and a 19th-place finish over the course of the next two races at Bristol and Michigan. Despite starting on the pole at Bristol Motor Speedway, Reddick would only lead one of the 200 laps and finish 14th. He finished out the regular season with a pair of top 10 finishes at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park and Chicagoland Speedway and sit 11th in points going into the Chase. Despite a clean season for the most part, Reddick would not be eligible for the inaugural Camping World Truck Series Chase.

Playing a spoiler in the Chase, Reddick captured a fourth-place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. With the solid weekend at Loudon, Reddick would finish three spots ahead of that at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in race 18. He would start 16th and lead 70 of the 146 laps to capture his third career Camping World Truck Series win.

The next four races would result in only one top 10 finish for Reddick at Texas Motor Speedway. Reddick started fifth and took his No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford to a fourth-place finish at the 1.5-mile Texas oval. His next top 10 run would come in the season finale two races later at Homestead with a runner-up finish.

Reddick finished the 2016 Camping World Truck Series season with one victory, eight top five and 12 top 10 finishes. He held an average finish of 11.4 and completed 97.7 percent of the laps ran. He had three total DNF’s over the 23-race schedule.

Daniel Hemric ran his first full-time season in the Camping World Truck Series with NTS Motorsports in 2015. Hemric went into his second full-time year with four top five and 13 top 10 finishes over 23 races in his first year. He had a clean year with only one DNF and held an average finish of 12.2. Hemric finished 2015 sitting seventh in driver standings.

Hemric started the year with a pair of top 10 finishes in the No. 19 Ford F-150 at Daytona and Atlanta. Hemric started the Nextra Energy Resources 250 18th and finished eighth. He backed up that finish the very next race at Atlanta where he took home a fourth-place run. Martinsville, race three on the Camping World Truck Series calendar, Hemric would start 17th and finish 22nd in the overtime race.

The finish at Martinsville Speedway would not impact Hemric’s momentum as he would finish inside the top 10 over the course of the next four races. His best would be a third-place run at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway after a ninth-place start. The little streak would end at Iowa Speedway with a 15th. However, that would not impact momentum as he would score a third at Gateway and Kentucky, and an eighth at Eldora Speedway.

Driving the Blue Gate Bank Ford, Hemric would finish 22nd in the next race at Pocono Raceway. In the next three races at Bristol, Michigan and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, Hemric would bring home three consecutive third-place finishes. At Chicago, race 16 of 23, he would finish one spot higher in the runner-up spot as the series ended its regular season.

Hemric was seeded seventh going into the first ever Camping World Truck Series Chase via points. The Camping World Truck Series Chase is a modified version of the one used on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series level. It features seven races across three rounds with eight total drivers.

Hemric and the No. 19 team did not start NASCAR’s version of the playoffs the way they wanted. The North Carolina native spun over in turn one on lap 26 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He then had his day end short due to an issue with the breaks on lap 127. Hemric left the 1.058-mile oval with a 28th-place finish.

In the remaining two races of the Round of 8, Hemric would capture a second-place finish at Las Vegas and an 11th-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway in October. The road to a championship would end as he would not advance into the next round of the Chase.

Hemric finished out the year with three top 10 finishes in the final four races. His best of those came at Texas Motor Speedway where he started second and finished third. In the season finale at Homestead, the 26-year old scored a fifth-place finish after starting 18th.

Throughout the 23-race schedule, the No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing team captured 11 top five and 17 top 10 finishes. The group, led by crew chief Chad Kendrick, had only one DNF and an average finish of 8.6.

Austin Cindric made four starts under the Brad Keselowski Racing banner in the No. 2 Ford. His best finish throughout those four races came in his last start at Phoenix International Raceway with a 15th. His other three races, at Bristol, Canadian Tire Motorsports Park and Talladega, Cindric finished 18th, 23rd and 20th.

Austin Theriault made one start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in the No. 2 Ford. That start came in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway where Theriault started fourth. However, despite leading the field for 31 circuits, Theriault’s night would end short on lap 94 in an 18-truck crash that resulted in a 27th-place finish.

For Brad Keselowski Racing in 2017, the team will have a brand-new look.

Cindric will be joining the team for a full-time slate in the No. 19 Ford F-150. Cindric, who will carry long-time Brad Keselowski Racing partner DrawTite, will be running his first full-time Camping World Truck Series season in 2017. Cindric holds six previous starts in the series and will look to capture his first career top-10 finish this year.

The No. 29 Ford will also feature a new Camping World Truck Series racer. Chase Briscoe, who captured the 2016 ARCA Racing Series championship, will be joining the racing team as a Ford Performance development driver.

Last season in ARCA, Briscoe captured six victories, 14 top five and 18 top-10 finishes through 20 races. The Indiana native started on the pole in six of those races and finished the year with an average finish of 5.2.

The 2016 Brad Keselowski Racing full-time drivers Daniel Hemric and Tyler Reddick will move over to the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

Hemric joins Richard Childress Racing to pilot the No. 21 Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet. Hemric will be led by crew chief Danny Stockman in his first ever dip in the XFINITY Series.

The 26-year old has yet to make a NASCAR XFINITY Series start.

Reddick will share the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing ride with full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson in multiple NASCAR XFINITY Series races. Reddick will carry Broken Bow Records as the primary sponsor in those races. Mike Shiplett will call the shots on the pit box for the team. 

Brett Winningham
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