Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Global

Keselowski: The more I see, read and hear, the more I like

2012 first-time Sprint Cup champion loves to tweet, and even had his hands slapped by NASCAR, not once but twice! His followers include the worldwide fans and the media.

Brad Keselowski at Vegas Beatles Love

Brad Keselowski at Vegas Beatles Love

Getty Images

The more I see, read and hear about the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, Brad Keselowski, the more I like. When he first came into the sport I found him brash and bit too much on the aggressive side but both he and I have changed in the intervening years.

Brad grew up and I changed my mind; I’m a woman so I’m allowed to do that. Regularly.

I thought the 2012 season would be a great one for Brad starting with the Daytona 500 – like 300,000 of my closest friends, I, too, began following him on Twitter and appreciated Special K’s honesty as he used Twitter for a platform. So I watched through the season and, along with thousands like me willed him to the title. Of course the Penske Racing team and Brad himself got the job done but I’ve got to think the power of positive thinking helped?

Brad Keselowski, Penske Racing Ford
Brad Keselowski, Penske Racing Ford

Photo by: Getty Images

Now Brad K, Penske Racing and all of NASCAR are embarking on a new adventure with the Gen6 Cup car that started testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway today. If the world ends tomorrow, as the Mayan calendar says it will, at least we’ve seen what the future might have been?

During a lunch break, Brad met with the media and discussed the new car, his new fame and the new game he and Penske Racing are embarking on in the coming year. “I think all the signs are there that we have the potential to be just as strong, if not stronger than we were last year, which is very, very encouraging,” Keselowski said. “We still have to work for it and make it happen, but the signs are there.”

In his first test of the very Ford-looking 2013 Ford Fusion race car, Keselowski is pleased with the engagement of the Ford people, including director Andy Slankard. While he couldn’t talk about the properties of the car because of the proprietary items he’s testing, Keselowski feels “more confident than anything else because, at the end of the day this is a people sport,” and the people at Ford Racing are being extremely helpful to him and new teammate Joey Logano.

These two good friends – off the track, anyway – are teaming up for the first time this year, giving Roger Penske a thoroughly modern look to his Cup team. Keselowski believes there’s some areas where Logano can help him improve including Logano’s ability to “unload at a place like this and just instantly be fast. That’s not my style but it’s something I would like to add to my arsenal, because there are times when that’s really, really helpful.

Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, Penske Racing Ford
Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, Penske Racing Ford

Photo by: Getty Images

“I think Joey is an elite talent in this sport and if we can work together that we will both be better,” Brad continued. “I would rather finish second to him next year in every race and even the championship, than to rest on my laurels. not get any better and the whole field does – and run fifth, 10th, 15th, 17th – whatever it might be, and beat him. I think it’s that spirit that is gonna drive us to be the best we can,” he said.

Keselowski relishes the change of equipment from Dodge to Ford – and the new-car change as well – because of the motivation factor for his team. “We have to find ways to make sure that there is no temptation to lose that motivation and I think that’s probably one of the biggest challenges we have. The switch to Ford itself is good, because it lends itself to having something to prove all over again, that we can continue to be successful no matter what the manufacturer or no matter what the circumstance is. I think that’s very healthy.”

He realizes even with the good number of Ford teams he can work with and the centralized engine development, both the Chevrolet and Toyota teams will be strong out of the gate. “It appears that there are a few guys that are just a little bit ahead of everyone else,” Keselowski explained. “”I think the Toyotas have shown that they’re going to be really, really tough to beat with this new car. I really like the way they finished last year and, for them, I think they have the capability of starting out next year even stronger than the field, so that will be interesting to watch, but there’s still a lot of testing and a lot of development left to be done.” He thinks Toyota’s teams are “at the top of the list.”

Some champions can’t wait to find space for the NASCAR Sprint Cup trophy in their arsenal, but for Keselowski the Penske Racing headquarters is the right place for the display. “I don’t believe in building a shrine to myself; it’s kind of weird,” he said. I like that, don’t you?

But Special K is trying to find the kind of unfair advantage that can help him amass more trophies in the coming years. One of the new items he’s trying s a different fire suit that’s lighter in weight and has cooling capabilities. While it’s a work in progress at the moment, “I want to be the best everywhere so I’ve got them helping me out. It’s a work in progress; I’m not all the way there, but I don’t like getting beat at anything.”

Tweet on, brother.

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Excitement builds for new sixth-generation car in day 2 of Charlotte testing
Next article Logano and Stenhouse Jr. bring holiday cheer on USO tour

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Global