RELATED: Where does 2 crew stack up midseason?
Team Penske’s No. 2 crew members had double the reason to celebrate Brad Keselowski ‘s back-to-back victories at Daytona and Kentucky in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. That’s because jackman Braxton Brannon and gasman Nick Hensley both added to their families during the joyous past two weeks.
Anyone who has ever been involved in the waiting process understands the stress of having a baby. The due dates were only three days apart and both guys had been on wait for the past two weeks. But the babies arrived safely on opposite ends of the Kentucky weekend and the crew members didn’t miss a beat.
For the Brannon family it was their first child. They welcomed a baby girl on July 7. For the Hensley family, they welcomed their second boy on July 11.
“It was a tough decision to go to that race while they were still in the hospital,” Brannon said. “Caroline told me to go and I think it was the right decision. Caroline is doing great now and the baby.”
Hensley echoed his feeling of relief.
“I knew the next two races (after Sonoma) were Saturday night races, and close enough to home that Team Penske would do everything they could to get me home in a hurry if something happened,” Hensley said. “I was more nervous for Braxton, this was my second child and I had stayed home from the Talladega race in 2014 for the birth of my first child, and I didn’t want him to miss that special moment with his family.”
So three weeks ago the No. 2 crew had two wins on the season and a total of one kid between the six over-the-wall guys. Now, two weeks later, the team has two more wins and two more family members.
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