Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Firekeepers Casino 400 Media Availability | Michigan International Speedway
Saturday, August 17, 2024
Brad Keselwowki, driver of the No. 6 Castrol Edge Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RFK Racing, returns to his hometown track still in search of his first win in the Irish Hills. On Saturday morning, Keselowski spoke about coming home and more.
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 Castrol Edge Ford Mustang Dark Horse
ANOTHER YEAR HERE AT MIS AND OBVIOUSLY BEING A MICHIGAN NATIVE YOU KNOW ALL TOO WELL THIS WEATHER CAN BE A LITTLE BIT FUNKY AT TIMES. HOW ARE YOU APPROACHING YOUR HOME RACE HERE WITH THE FACT THAT WE MIGHT NOT RACE ON TIME ON SUNDAY, AND WE MIGHT HAVE TO GO BACK TO MONDAY AGAIN?
“Yeah, maybe with a little bit of denial. I think when I grew up here it was always the same, wait five minutes, the weather will change. So if it’s a bad forecast that means it will be good on Sunday. Isn’t that right? I don’t know how that works, right? So, starting a week out it was like, oh, it’s going to monsoon all three days. And as we were kind of talking through it this morning in our briefing, it’s already changed to scattered showers, and maybe it’ll change one more time. So we’ll see what today and tomorrow brings. But the thing about it is it’s the same for all competitors and from that perspective, I think we just view it as something to work through, and in some cases, an opportunity.”
IF NASCAR HAD NOT PENALIZED AND TAKEN THE PLAYOFF BID AWAY FROM AUSTIN DILLON, WOULD YOU EXPECT RFK Racing DRIVERS TO MAKE THAT MOVE TO GET INTO THE PLAYOFFS?
“I don’t know. It’s clear that we’ll just keep moving the line, whatever that line is. If we don’t know where the line is, we’ll just keep pushing to more and more extremes. That’s not limited to Austin. That’s just the entire industry. I have some sympathies for all the parties involved, whether it be NASCAR or Austin, and certainly the guys that got wrecked last week but the way the system is set up I kind of understand it. So that has an effect that transcends not just the Cup Series but on down and it’s something that I think that NASCAR felt a lot of pressure to react on and they did. I don’t know if I have an idea whether they made the right move or wrong move, I guess time will tell. But it’s an interesting situation. I’m kind of more surprised that it didn’t happen earlier, to be honest, in the playoff format. But maybe it’s just part of a natural evolution that happens slowly over time. But with now NASCAR interjecting, I think it’s fair to say that this would just evolve to another step. I don’t know what that would be, but it will always just keep evolving until something gets stopped.”
WHAT WOULD YOU EXPECT FROM YOUR DRIVER? EVERY DRIVER CAN SAY HE HAS A CODE. CHRIS BUESCHER SAID HE WOULD NEVER DO THAT, BUT HE WOULD NO MATTER WHAT. WOULD YOU BE OKAY AS AN OWNER?
“I think there are a couple of different things to unwind there, Bob. You have the culture of the driver, the culture of the garage area, the culture of the sport. Culture is not just what you practice and preach, it’s what you tolerate, whether that’s in the sport or in anything in life. I think NASCAR had to decide what could be tolerated? I think they made a good attempt at putting a line in the sand. We’ll see how that sticks. But that said, we would all adapt to it. Naturally, you have to adapt to it. If that became the norm every week, then I think actions would speak louder than words and we’d all probably fall into that reality, right? So I don’t think we have any intentions of getting to that, being the norm every week, particularly at RFK. But you race what the rules are and if the rules are something’s okay, we’re going to probably find a way to do it, right? Whether that’s on the car or on the racetrack.”
YOU SAID NASCAR MADE A GOOD ATTEMPT AT PUTTING A LINE IN THE SAND. DO YOU KNOW WHERE THAT LINE IS? ARE YOU FAIRLY SURE OF WHAT YOU CAN DO AND NOT DO IN THAT SITUATION REASONABLY?
“I think they made as good an attempt as you could make to draw a line in the sand. Humans and life evolve and we’ll find some other peace. I don’t think there’s a way to have permanent solutions for everything that happens in life and sports. I don’t know what the next thing will be. I think everybody a couple of years ago got a good kick out of Ross’ move and that was certainly an evolution of the sport, right? NASCAR made a point to make that kind of a one and done. I think they’re trying really hard to do that here. Something else I’m sure will pop up, as it always does. You know that’s part of what makes the sport fun too, is seeing what new thing is going We might not always agree with whatever it is, but I think it’s unrealistic for anyone in the industry to expect NASCAR to know everything that’s going to happen before it happens. We want them to be proactive and not reactive, but they’re outnumbered significantly by people that are always trying to find new ways to beat systems. And in some cases, they have to be reactive and this is one of those cases in my mind.”
YOU TALKED ABOUT THE LINE. NASCAR TALKED ABOUT THE LINE. DID THEY FURTHER DEFINE THAT IN THE COMPETITION MEETING THIS MORNING?
“I wasn’t there. I’m here with you. It’s still going. I wanted to talk to Lee.”
YOU’VE WON AT DAYTONA, BUT YOU’VE WON THE SUMMER RACE AND NOT THE CROWN JEWEL. IS THAT KIND OF LIKE KISSING YOUR SISTER?
“I have three sisters but I don’t kiss them much so I don’t have a great answer for that. I feel like the Daytona 500 and this race at Michigan for me feel really similar. We have been in great positions. We have let a lot of laps, we have won the stages, here in particular I have sat on the pole but for whatever reason at the end of the race it just hasn’t come together. A lot of top fives and all those other things, here in particular, a lot of second places. Those things kind of happen when they are meant to happen. For Daytona specifically, I think we will have a great shot of winning in two weeks, or a week and a half, whenever that is when we get there. It was nice to sweep the race 1-2 last year. It was really great for our company and for Chris. We plan on doing the same thing, I can tell you that. It is bittersweet to have so much success in the summer race and not be able to seem to connect the dots in the 500, but that’s life.”
CHRIS SAID HE COULDN’T HAVE WON THAT RACE WIHTOUT YOU. DO YOU BECOME MORE SELFLESS WHEN YOU’RE A DRIVER OWNER?
“I don’t know about that, I guess probably, it’s hard to say when you’re living it every day. I didn’t really feel like I had a great opportunity to pass him. So I was happy to see him win. I’m sure that favor will get returned somewhere down the road.”
I HATE TO ASK ONE MORE QUESTION ON THE DILLON SITUATION, BUT IF IT HAD JUST BEEN LOGANO AND NOT DENNY HAMLIN AND THE SPOTTER COMING OUT WITH HIS COMMENTS, DO YOU THINK DILLON WOULD HAVE SKATED ON THIS?
“I think that is probably a better question for Elton Sawyer and NASCAR. I didn’t sit in the room when they were making their decision to know exactly what was encapsulated in the decision-making process. I think it’s fair to say that adding more things to the scenario doesn’t do any favors to it. I don’t know if I could answer if you subtracted one or two elements if the reaction would have been the same. I don’t know how they looked at that.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON ENDING THE REGULAR SEASON AT DARLINGTON, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE SPRING INSTEAD OF A DICEY RACE LIKE DAYTONA?
“Yeah, it’s different. I think for me, I’m really excited about ending the season at Darlington. I think we have a great shot to sweep the races. It’s been a really good track for us at RFK. We’ve got some great cars to go there with. Whether it be Daytona or Darlington, now that the 6 car is locked in or since we’ve been locked in, we’re fairly agnostic to what race it ends with. That said, we’re throwing everything we have at it for Chris Buescher to make his way into the playoffs. Right now he’s the cut-off car to make it. That’s going to be a really difficult race. 500 miles around Darlington is a tough race, but even more so knowing it’s the cutoff race to make the championship that’s going to be a very big challenge for him and for all those drivers that are trying to break through. So I think it almost is fitting in that sense because the Southern 500 is meant to be a very prestigious, very challenging race for the drivers and it will make it even that much more impactful.”
