Thursday, July 5, 2012
Daytona International Speedway
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Brad Keselowski Open Interview
Dodge PR
http://twitter.com/teamdodge, www.media.chrysler.com, www.drivesrt.com
Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T) YOU DIDN’T RUN THE SECOND CUP SERIES PRACTICE THIS AFTERNOON. IS THAT A SIGN THAT YOU’RE HAPPY WITH YOUR RACE CAR? “Yeah. We had it planned before practice started and sometimes things go by plan. We had a great practice session and feel pretty good about both the Miller Lite Dodge and the Discount Tire Dodge in the Nationwide Series, that we’ve got a great shot at winning.”
WERE YOUR CARS RUNNING ANY HOTTER IN THE DRAFT? “No, my car’s been good. I think that the guys at Penske Racing do a great job managing the engine for tracks like this. There are certain brands that have advantages and disadvantages throughout the year. This probably falls where our brand, I don’t want to say an advantage, we’re stronger. I expect us to be very competitive this weekend.”
DID YOU PRACTICE IN THE DRAFT? “Yes I was. It was great. I didn’t have any issues. I was really, really happy with it.”
DO YOU THINK THAT WE’LL SEE TANDEM DRAFTING? “I think the Cup cars with the smaller rear spoiler, it’s quite a bit harder to be effective with the tandem draft. I’m sure it will show up at times. I don’t think that there will be one style of racing that will be prevalent in the race. I think that we will see different styles based on the situations.”
HAVE THE TRACK CONDITIONS CHANGED SINCE FEBRUARY? “No, I thought that the track felt like it did in February. It feels good. There are a few more bumps, which is to be expected with a track as it ages. There’s the patch down there in Turn 3. So, the track is a little bit different, but I can barely feel it.”
WHO ARE YOUR (DRAFTING) BUDDIES OUT THERE SO FAR? “They’re all my friends (laughs). Everybody. Just tell them that will ya? They’re all my friends. I’m a friendly guy.”
DO YOU HAVE ANY KIND OF CHOICE WITH WHOM YOU CAN GO WITH AT THE END OF THE RACE? YOU WERE WORKING WITH KYLE BUSCH IN TALLADEGA: “I try to put grudges or ill-will behind and go with people that know what they’re doing. Certainly I’ve had some run-ins with Kyle in the past but there’s no doubt that he’s a great race car driver when it comes to these tracks. He can help me be successful and I’m going to work with him. Absolutely. I’m going to work with guys of that nature. I think that it’s important to keep an open mind from that perspective at these tracks.”
HAS THERE BEEN ANY ATTEMPT TO CONTACT JUAN PABLO MONTOYA? “No. He never tried to call me and I never tried to call him.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUR BRUTON SMITH’S COMMENTS ABOUT THROWING MANDATORY CAUTIONS FLAGS IN RACE? “I have so many thoughts on it that it’s hard to put it into one context or one sound byte. I can see what he’s trying to say. I think, as a sport, we have to decide who we want to be. I think we’re in a little bit of an identity crisis. The tendency right now is that everyone is looking at football and seeing the huge ratings, all the success that they’re having and we’re trying to emulate them. I think that there is a faction of this sport that really likes that and thinks that is where we need to be. Maybe that’s good, maybe that’s bad. I don’t know. I think that there are good things about our sport that makes it better than the stick and ball sports. There are other things about our sport that make it less entertaining and not fun to watch. What we need to do is embrace the things that make our sport great. We need to embrace those things. Sometimes we try so hard to fix the other aspects that we lose sight of the things that are great. And I think that’s really important for us to do. We need to really grasp what’s going well and take advantage of it. I think we’ve got to get away from that attitude. I think that there are things that I lean towards that I think would be very successful if we were to emulate of other sports. I know the schedule has been brought up. There are some valid points there. There’s a lack of a true rookie class, which I think that we could really work on in this sport and make it more exciting. Those are the areas that if we’re going to work on something that I’d make them work. That’s what’s going to make the racing better and make it more enjoyable of a sport to watch. There are countless other topics. We need to be careful doing things that potentially sell our sport out as far as being able to look at the end of the day and say that this guy won because he made better moves and was a better driver. The tough thing about that is that there’s always been the luck factor in our sport. There’s always been the guy who runs over a piece of debris. There’s always been the guy who fails (inaudible). I think there’s always been a balance of luck and skill in racing and the change of that nature would definitely change that balance. That’s something that we have to be very careful of.”
WHAT ARE SOME THINGS THAT ARE GOING RIGHT THAT YOU WOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF? “Dale Jr’s winning! That’ doesn’t count (laughs)? I think there are a lot of good things that I like about our sport. We have some great people, great personalities. We’re one of the few sports that doesn’t have story about an athlete going to jail or things of those natures. Look at those sports – there’s a different guy going to jail everyday. We had one guy that goes in jail…Jeremy (Mayfield) got into some kind of trouble… and we’re like, ‘Wow, that’s a big deal.’ Guess what? Look at the other stick and ball sports, major sports, it’s a major day occurrence over there and that’s something that we should be really proud of. We should continue to promote some of the great role models that are in our sport. That’s just one of countless examples.”
