Brad Keselowski Open Interview — Pocono

Friday, August 5, 2011 Dodge Motorsports PR

Pocono Raceway Good Sam RV Insurance 500 Brad Keselowski Open Interview NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger)

HOW ARE YOU FEELING? “Pretty good, glad to be back in the race car. It didn’t look like, for a little while, I was going to get to do that.”

HOW DIFFICULT IS IT FOR YOU IN THE RACE CAR? “It’s been easier at times. In general, I’m not that bad. There are some things down there that don’t feel real good. It took a little effort to make it all work inside the car. I’ve got a good car, so it will be alright.”

OTHER DRIVERS HAVE COMMENTED THAT THE ACCIDENT WAS REALLY BAD; HOW BAD ARE THE INJURIES TO YOUR FOOT AND LEG? “It wasn’t good. The biggest thing is that I felt lucky that was all that was tore up. I hit about as hard as you can hit in one of these cars and I’m still here somehow. As a driver, probably one of your worst nightmares is going through a corner, like that one was, without a safer barrier, without any of the stuff that we’ve got used to and got accustomed to, without brakes. And knowing that I had two or three seconds staring at a wall, knowing that I was going to hit it about as hard as you possibly could. Probably less comforting was knowing that it was a temporary wall and on the other side was trees, so I figured I was going to end up in the trees. Somehow, I made it through it, broke the wall down and came flying through on the other side. I was just really, really lucky.”

HOW MUCH PAIN WERE YOU IN THEN COMPARED TO NOW? “I was pretty sure after I hit the wall that I had broken everything that I could break. I was hurting pretty good. I guess, you know, a few days recovery and I just healed up. I feel pretty decent now. Walking isn’t all that easy, but that’s just the deal. You get in the race car and make it work somehow.”

IS IT MORE DIFFICULT WITH THE SHIFTING AND BRAKING YOU HAVE TO DO HERE AT POCONO? “I can tell you, I’ve checked my brakes a couple extra times before each corner. It’s not an easy place to drive with your foot tore up. Coming to Pocono this year, they opened up the shifting rule, so that means you do a lot more with your feet. It requires a little more finesse. Finesse certainly isn’t something I wouldn’t say you have when your feet hurt. It’s going to be tricky all weekend.”

DO YOU USE YOUR LEFT FOOT FOR BRAKING? “I do everything with my left foot as far as braking and shifting is concerned.”

WHAT ABOUT PAIN ON SUNDAY; WHAT PROVISIONS HAVE BEEN MADE IF RELIEF IS NEEDED? “I’m not going to get out (of the car); I don’t care how much it hurts. That’s not going to happen. Sam (Hornish Jr.) is going to drive my car at Iowa (Nationwide). I would go there if they would let me. I don’t think I’m going to be able to convince Roger (Penske) of that. I can tell you, I’m not getting out Sunday.

WHAT ABOUT MEDICATION, HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO CONTROL THE PAIN WITH MEDICATION? “I got to take a Motrin or two and they put some pain medicine in me while I was at the hospital through an IV; I don’t know what that was. Thank God for that. Otherwise, it would have been really bad, really rough. I’ve been really lucky that each day I’ve recovered tremendously. All the swelling in both my feet have gone down. I’m able to walk and do the things it takes to be a race car driver.”

DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A TOUGH GUY? “I consider myself a lucky guy to have walked away and be here. It’s not for me to judge that.”

AFTER WHAT YOU’VE GONE THROUGH, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE TRACKS THAT DRIVERS GO TO FOR TESTING? “There’s a reason why there are certain tracks on the schedule that are on the schedule. They’re great facilities. They’re nice facilities to drive on and when things go wrong, usually people won’t get hurt. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a wreck in Cup where a driver has been seriously hurt. Let’s knock on wood. I was real lucky. That has to do with the facilities you go to. I had a good time testing at Road Atlanta, but at the end of the day, there’s a realization that there’s a reason why it’s not a Cup facility. It’s not up to the requirements that it takes. Those are the things we have to do if we want to remain competitive, if we want to find the edge, if we want to go to Watkins Glen and unload as a competitive team with the Miller Lite Dodge. You’ve got to take those chances. This Wednesday when we took those chances, we paid the price for it and almost a much larger price.”

HAVE YOU HAD OTHER INJURIES DURING YOUR CAREER; IS THIS THE WORST INJURY YOU’VE HAD? This is probably my worst. I’ve never had both feet injured at the same time and everything else that comes with that. It’s just the way it is. I think in a long race season, at some point you’re going to have to deal with injuries or deal with what happens; if we can make it through this, we can make it through anything.”

DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE YOU TO HEAL? “I should be back to 100 percent I guess in the next six weeks. The big question is how the bone in my foot is going to heal. That’s a huge question; we’ll just have to find out as we go.”

HAS THIS INJURY COME AT THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME? “This is about the worst time knowing we’re coming up on the Chase, knowing that we need another win to get in, knowing that we have tracks coming up that require a lot of finesse with the brakes – Watkins Glen and here at Pocono. And then, you’ve got one of the toughest races of the year with Bristol, it’s 500 laps on a short track. There’s no good time, but this is certainly the worst time.”