NASCAR Achievements
- 2012 Sprint Cup Champion
- 2010 Nationwide (now called Xfinity) Series Champion
NASCAR Sprint Cup Statistics
- Best points finish: 1st (2012)
- First Win: 2009 Aaron's 499 - Talladega
- Last Win: 2015 Auto Club 400 - Fontana
- Most wins in a season: 6 (2014)
- Total Sprint Cup wins: 17
Career Info
Nationwide Series and Joining Penske
Brad spent his early NASCAR career racing for various teams in the Camping World Truck and Nationwide series until after an impressive performance in 2007 he was tapped by Dale Earnhardt Jr to drive the #88 Navy Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in the Nationwide series. From 2008-2009 he posted 6 wins and made a handful of Cup starts for Hendrick Motorsports and Phoenix Racing. In his fifth Cup start he pulled off a huge upset in the #09 for Phoenix Racing and won the Aaron's 499 at Talladega; a race remembered for a wild finish where Carl Edwards' car got airborne.
In 2010 he joined Penske Racing and competed full time in both Nationwide and Cup series in the #22 and #12 respectively. While he made little progress at the Cup level, he and crew chief Paul Wolfe earned 6 victories on their way to the 2010 Nationwide series championship. The first championship of any kind in NASCAR for Penske Racing.
For the 2011 season Shell/Pennzoil announced it would take it's sponsorship from the #29 of Kevin Harvick at Richard Childress Racing and be coming to Penske. However, their deal was contingent on Kurt Busch, then driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge, being their driver, as with his 2004 championship they felt he was more established. So, Brad became the driver of the blue deuce while Kurt stepped in the #12, renamed #22, or double deuce, with Shell/Pennzoil.
From the Hospital Bed to Victory Lane
In the summer of 2011 Brad became one of the sports hottest drivers. While testing at Road Atlanta he hit the wall at over 100mph. Due to the track not having the energy absorbing safer barriers he endured injuries including a broken ankle. While many thought this would take him out of competition he went on a hot streak beginning with a win at Pocono only days later. His four finishes after his accident were 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 1st. With 3 wins at the end of August and jumping over 10 spots in the standings many had begun to consider him a serious threat to the championship. He would go on to finish 5th in the final standings. His first year in the blue deuce he scored more wins per season (three) than Kurt Busch had in any of the 5 years he was behind the wheel.
2012 Sprint Cup Champion
In 2012 Brad scored 5 wins on his way to his first Sprint Cup championship by battling 5-time champ Jimmie Johnson. It was team owner Roger Penske's first Cup championship. Brad became just the second driver, after Bobby LaBonte, to win championships in both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series. He is also only the third driver in NASCAR's modern era (1972-present) to win a championship by his third season; Dale Earnhardt did it in his second (1980) and Jeff Gordon also did it in his third (1995).
In Games
Since NASCAR games don't feature alcohol sponsorship the Miller Lite logos on his car are replaced simply with "Brad'.
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