Keselowski Motorsports

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Keselowski Motorsports
Cheez-It 355 at The Glen (Watkins Glen)
Races competedTotal: 231
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series: 5
Xfinity Series: 52
Camping World Truck Series: 174
Drivers' Championships0
Race victories10 (0 cup, 0 xfinity 10 trucks)
Pole positions0

Keselowski Motorsports, formerly known as K-Automotive Racing and Brian Keselowski Motorsports, was a

Nationwide Series. K-Automotive is owned and operated by Bob, Brian and Kay Keselowski. Brian Keselowski Motorsports is owned and operated by Brian Keselowski
.

The team began racing in ARCA and USAC Series in the 1969 with Ron driving and Bob serving as the team's crew chief.

Winston Cup Series

K Automotive made its debut in the NASCAR

Alabama International Motor Speedway
, starting eighth, but dropping to twenty-seventh due to an engine failure.

In 1970, Ron began running most of the races for the team. He ran seventeen races, finishing eighth at the West Virginia 300, and finished 39th in the final points standings. They also fielded a car for Dave Marcis at the Southern 500, finishing 29th. In 1971, K fielded entries for a variety of drivers, including Ron, Dick Polling, and Bill Shirley. After taking the following year off, K returned in 1973, fielding a car for Ron in two races. He finished fifth at Michigan International Speedway. They made one start in 1974 with Bob Whitlow before making their final Cup start at the 1975 Daytona 500 when Jim Vandiver finished 35th after a wreck.

Local racing and ARCA Racing Series

In 1975, Bob and Ron switched roles, with Bob becoming the team's driver and Ron the crew chief. Bob made his late model debut at Toledo Speedway and moved to full-time USAC racing in 1976, running 1974 Dodge Challengers and Aspens, garnering a best finish of seventh in competition. In 1978, he also ran some NASCAR Late Model Sportsman races in addition to the USAC series. He continued to run USAC and the NASCAR Grand American Series over the next several years, and won the 1983 track championship at Toledo.

In 1986, Bob Keselowski began running the ARCA series in the number 29 Chevrolet, making seven starts and getting two second-place finishes before winning his first race at

Mopar Performance sponsored Keselowski's number 29 Chrysler LeBaron
throughout the 1990 season. Together, they won the season-opener at Daytona and finished 3rd in points. Keselowski would continue to compete in the ARCA series until the end of the 1994 season.

Ten years later, the Keselowskis returned to the series to field the number 29 Competition Graphics Dodge under a partnership with Bob Ducharme. Brian Keselowski drove seven races and had a top-ten in his debut at Kentucky Speedway along with two other top-tens. Despite failing to qualify twice in 2005, he had a string of five consecutive top-ten finishes out of seven starts. In 2006, he won his first career race at Berlin with Holloway Motorsports sponsoring and finished 29th in points. He followed that up with additional wins in the 29 in 2007. That year Mike Ciochetti drove at Talladega but wrecked and finished 39th. In addition, they expanded to a second car, the number 00 Orchard Chrysler Dodge Jeep Dodge owned by Brad Keselowski with Robb Brent. Brent ran two seasons in limited schedules and had five top-tens in sixteen starts.

In 2009, K returned to ARCA with the number 29 Chevrolet and hired Mikey Kile and Chad Finley to drive on a part-time basis. Kile had four top-ten finishes in the Greased Lightning Cleaning Products Chevy, and Finley had three in the Auto Value Chevy. Jesse Smith drove the season opener at Daytona in 2010.

Craftsman Truck Series

Truck No. 29 history

K returned to NASCAR in

Heartland Park Topeka before handing the driving chores back to Setzer for the rest of the season. Setzer then won his first career race at Mesa Marin Raceway. In 1999, K created a second truck, the number 1, for Setzer to drive while Keselowski drove the number 29 part-time, doing research and development for Dodge. Keselowski ran five races and had a top-ten finish at Texas Motor Speedway
before he retired. Setzer won three times and lost the championship by 108 points.

In

Power Stroke Diesel. In his first year with the team, Cook won the pole at Nazareth and finished tenth in the standings. In 2002, he won four races and two poles but dropped to ninth in the final points. After he did not win again in 2003
, he and PSD left the team.

The number 29 truck in 2003.
The number 29 truck in 2004 @ Michigan International Speedway.
Deborah Renshaw, driver of the number 29 truck in 2004 @ Michigan International Speedway.

The team began

O'Reilly Auto Parts 200 that season with Brad driving. He finished 34th after an engine failure.[1]

Nationwide Series

Car No. 26 history

Beginning in the 2007 season, the team partnered with

Jay Robinson Racing
, Keselowski moved to the team's number 92 Dodge to drive on a part-time schedule.

In 2009, the team changed numbers from number 92 to number 26 for their main car, and began to run full-time with limited sponsorship from Fischer Honda and Dusty's Collisions. Brian drove most of the races early on in the year with not a lot of luck with his best finish being 14th at Talladega. Later in the year Michael McDowell took over the ride. He drove to an 8th-place finish in Iowa as well as a 10th at Bristol. After one off starts with

Kevin Conway leased the team's owner points for the rest of the year and ran the ExtenZe
car with a best finish of 20th.

In 2010 Brian ran most of the season, running full races until the team fell outside the top 30 in owner points, where the team start-n-parked

K-Automotive partnered with

Sam Hornish Jr
run races in the 26. Kligerman would run 3 of the Races with the new Nationwide Series COT car, along with Montreal.

Kligerman finished 13th in the July Daytona race, 8th at Montreal, 15th in the fall Richmond Race & 43rd in the fall Charlotte race due to Kligerman crashing on lap 4.

Sam Hornish Jr drove the 26 car at the season finale at Homestead-Miami, finishing 26th.

Car No. 26 results

Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Owners Pts
2007 Brian Keselowski 19 Dodge
DAY
CAL
MXC
LVS
ATL
BRI
NSH
TEX
PHO
TAL
RCH
DAR
CLT
DOV
NSH
KEN
MLW
NHA
DAY
CHI
GTY
IRP
23
CGV
GLN
56th 422
49
MCH

33
BRI
CAL
RCH
DOV
KAN
CLT
MEM

10
TEX
PHO
HOM

11
2009 26
DAY

25
CAL

29
LVS

19
BRI

DNQ
TEX

DNQ
PHO

27
TAL

14
RCH

21
DAR

24
CLT

30
DOV

16
NSH
30
KEN

35
MLW
31
NHA

34
DAY

DNQ
GTY

20
IRP
DNQ
CGV
42
ATL

33
28th 2861
Dennis Setzer
NSH

20
CHI

30
Michael McDowell IOW
8
GLN

27
MCH

17
BRI

10
RCH

19
CAL

38
CLT
MEM
TEX
PHO
HOM
Danny O'Quinn Jr.
DOV

34
KAN
2010 Brian Keselowski
DAY

11
CAL

34
LVS

32
BRI

39
NSH

24
PHO

20
TEX

36
TAL

33
DAR

24
DOV

DNQ
CLT
NSH
37
KEN

DNQ
ROA

40
NHA

39
DAY
CHI

DNQ
GTY

38
IRP
34
IOW
33
GLN

27
MCH

38
ATL

31
RCH
DOV

41
KAN
42
CAL

40
CLT
GTY
41
TEX

DNQ
PHO

34
HOM
35th 2182
Johnny Chapman
RCH

33
Dennis Setzer
BRI

42
CGV

Car No. 92 history

The 92 car debuted in

Green-white-checkered finish), and finished 17th, after getting in the catch-fence on the last lap and catching fire.[2]

Brian Keselowski drove the 92 in the 2010 Nationwide Series Finale at Homestead-Miami due to Sam Hornish Jr driving the 26. Brian attempted to run the entire race, where he le 4 laps during green flag pit stops, however he blew a tire and hit wall, finishing with a 34th place finish.

Car No. 92 results

Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Owners Pts
2008 Brian Keselowski 92 Dodge
DAY
CAL
LVS
ATL
BRI
NSH
TEX
PHO
MXC
TAL
RCH

30
DAR
CLT
DOV
NSH
DNQ
KEN

35
MLW

27
NHA
DAY
CHI

DNQ
GTY

40
IRP
15
CGV
GLN
MCH

24
BRI

DNQ
CAL
RCH
DOV
KAN
DNQ
CLT
MEM
31
TEX
PHO
HOM
49th 629
2009 Willie Allen
DAY
CAL
LVS
BRI
TEX
NSH
PHO
TAL
RCH
DAR
CLT
DOV
NSH
KEN
MLW
NHA
DAY
CHI
GTY
IRP IOW
GLN
MCH

42
BRI
CGV
ATL
RCH
KAN
DNQ
CAL
MEM
43
56th 293
Dennis Setzer
DOV

38
CLT

42
TEX

42
PHO

42
HOM

41
2010 Johnny Chapman
DAY

DNQ
CAL

DNQ
LVS

DNQ
BRI

43
41st 1111
Dennis Setzer
NSH

DNQ
PHO

43
TEX

43
TAL

17
DAR

43
DOV

QL
CLT

39
NSH
43
KEN

43
NHA

43
DAY
CHI

43
GTY

42
IRP
43
IOW
42
ATL

41
RCH
DOV

42
CAL

42
CLT
TEX

43
PHO

42
Brian Keselowski
RCH

43
DOV

42
HOM

34
Andy Ponstein
ROA

42
GTY
38
Dan Brode
GLN

41
MCH
BRI
CGV

Car No. 96 history

The number 96 car at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2009

The 96 car also debuted in the 2009 season, but in the second race of the season. Setzer drove for the first three starts, followed by Brian Keselowski and Willie Allen. Eventually Michael McDowell would become the driver of the car with AT&T and The Real Yellow Pages sponsoring, getting an eleventh-place finish at Montreal. Setzer was expected to drive the car for most of 2010, where he qualifed for 4 of the first 5 Races. However after Johnny Chapman failed to qualify in 4 of the first 5 races in the 92 car, Setzer was moved to the 92. The 96 returned for Darlington where Chapman failed to qualify. Dennis Setzer returned to 96 in Homestead.

Car No. 96 results

Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Owners Pts
2009 Dennis Setzer 96 Dodge
DAY
CAL

42
LVS

43
BRI

38
TEX

QL
PHO

DNQ
TAL
RCH
DAR

DNQ
CLT

38
DOV

42
MLW
41
IRP
DNQ
MCH

42
BRI

DNQ
RCH

34
CAL

36
42nd 1455
Brian Keselowski
TEX

38
NSH

41
CHI

DNQ
MEM
QL
HOM

DNQ
Willie Allen NSH
36
NHA

42
DAY
GTY

41
Blake Bjorklund
KEN

DNQ
Andy Ponstein IOW
DNQ
GLN
Michael McDowell CGV
11
ATL

35
DOV

29
KAN
DNQ
CLT

23
MEM
21
TEX

29
PHO

25
2010 Dennis Setzer
DAY

Wth
CAL

42
LVS

43
BRI

DNQ
NSH
PHO
TEX
TAL
RCH
HOM

42
67th 130
Johnny Chapman
DAR

DNQ
DOV
CLT
NSH
KEN
ROA
NHA
DAY
CHI
GTY
IRP IOW
GLN
MCH
BRI
CGV
ATL
RCH
DOV
KAN
CAL
CLT
GTY
TEX
PHO

Sprint Cup Series

Car No. 92 history

K-Automotive motorsports returned to the Cup Series in 2010 with the number 92 Dodge. The team attempted the Daytona 500 with Mike Wallace and four races with Brian Keselowski, but the team did not qualify for any of the events. The team also raced in the Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway with Robert Richardson Jr. driving and sponsorship provided by The Grill Topper.

In 2011, K-Automotive shut down their Nationwide team and moved up to Cup full-time. Keselowski qualified for the Daytona 500 after he raced his way from the slowest of the 48 cars who attempted the race to finishing fifth in his qualifying race, giving him the 12th starting position for the 500. Offers also started pouring in from Ray Evernham, Roger Penske, and Golden Corral. Discount Tire later sponsored the number 92. The team finished 41st after a crash and did not qualify for the next two races. In March, Keselowski had his gall bladder removed, so Dennis Setzer took over the car for Keselowski in Bristol and qualified for Bristol and finished 38th after engine trouble. The team then entered with Setzer in Martinsville, but was forced to withdraw after a crash in practice when the cars brakes failed and they did not have a backup car. K-Automotive then scaled down to a partial schedule because they only had one car. They announced a switch to Chevrolet prior to the Michigan race in June and attempted the race with sponsorship from Melling but failed to make the race. Dennis Setzer attempted New Hampshire and the fall Martinsville race but did not qualify. Scott Riggs attempted Homestead but did not qualify that as well.

In 2013, Keselowski changed the number to 52, as he was using owners points from

Hamilton Means Racing to run a limited schedule. Keselowski attempted the 2013 Daytona 500, but failed to make the race. He ran Richmond and finished 40th. Later in the season, 71-year-old Morgan Shepherd ran at Loudon, at the time the oldest driver to start a race. Keselowski would return to the car at Watkins Glen
, finishing 39th after starting 43rd.

At Sonoma, BKM lent their owner points to Go Green Racing, who fielded rookie Paulie Harraka. This entry was unrelated to BKM's entries.

In 2014, Keselowski changed the number back to 92 and the team switched to Ford, purchasing a car from Germain Racing, who had switched to Chevy. However, the team never entered a race due to lack of sponsorship.

Car No. 92 results

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
results
Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Owners Pts
2010 Mike Wallace 92 Dodge DAY
DNQ
CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR PHO TEX TAL RCH DAR DOV CLT POC MCH SON NHA DAY CHI IND POC GLN MCH 54th 61
Brian Keselowski BRI
DNQ
ATL RCH
DNQ
NHA DOV KAN CAL CLT
Wth
MAR TAL TEX
DNQ
PHO HOM
2011 DAY
41
PHO
DNQ
LVS
DNQ
TEX
Wth
TAL RCH
DNQ
DAR
DNQ
DOV CLT KAN POC 54th 9
Chevy MCH
DNQ
SON DAY KEN
Dennis Setzer Dodge BRI
38
CAL MAR
Wth
Chevy NHA
DNQ
IND POC GLN MCH BRI ATL RCH CHI NHA DOV KAN CLT TAL MAR
DNQ
TEX PHO
Scott Riggs HOM
DNQ
2013 Brian Keselowski 52 Toyota DAY
DNQ
PHO LVS BRI CAL MAR TEX KAN RCH
40
TAL DAR
Wth
CLT DOV POC MCH SON KEN DAY POC
Wth
GLN
39
MCH BRI ATL RCH CHI NHA DOV KAN CLT TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 46th 17
Morgan Shepherd NHA
41
IND

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.truckseries.com/cgi-script/NCTS_06/articles/000081/008193.htm
  2. ^ "Race Results".

External links