Friday, September 7, 2012
Dodge PR
Richmond International Raceway
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Federated Auto Parts 400
Brad Keselowski Open Interview
http://twitter.com/teamdodge www.media.chrysler.com www.drivesrt.com
Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T) TALK ABOUT YOUR MINDSET ENTERING THE CHASE. YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE A PRETTY GOOD SEED AND YOU’RE ONE OF THOSE RACERS WHO GOES HARD REGARDLESS. “Yeah, I’m going to try to win the race either way. You know I was talking to Martin Truex before practice started and he put it best – this weekend for us feels like the all-star race where you just go out and race and you don’t worry about anything else. You don’t want to wreck but if you do, you kind of shrug your shoulders and go ‘Ah well’ and you’re just hoping that you get another win. So I think that the guys that are in the top 10 feel that way. And certainly there are some other things going on that you want to be respectful to with the battle for the last spot in the wild card and so forth. But it feels like a very low-tension, high-reward weekend that is going to be a lot of fun and so far it has been.”
IS THERE AN ADVANTAGE OF THE REGULAR SEASON IN TRYING TO MAINTAIN THE CONSISTENCY THAT WILL COME IN HANDY DURING THE CHASE? “I feel that way and I felt more that way before Tony (Stewart) went on his run than I do now but I still feel some resemblance of that. You know for us it’s almost more about proving something to yourself than to anyone else. I feel like over the last 10 weeks we’ve been just as consistent, if not more consistent, than anyone else and if we can repeat the performance that we’ve had over the last 10 weeks, that we can win the championship. So you know that confidence is big, that self-confidence. But you’re right, you diagnosed it fairly well, that once you’re in the top 10 consistency really doesn’t mean anything until the actual Chase starts. It’s all about the wins, which I think is good; I like that setup. You know it wouldn’t hurt my feelings at all if there was a reward for actually being the leader of the points going into the Chase. It’s not a big deal. I feel like you summed it up pretty well. I don’t know how to really add anything to that. I certainly don’t disagree that once the Chase starts you have to be more consistent than ever and certainly pile off some good finishes. Before that, it really doesn’t matter. But the actual consistency during the race to the Chase means nothing except for your own mentality and your own approach. For us, I think it’s been very strong.”
YOU ARE GETTING A NEW TEAMMATE FOR NEXT YEAR. CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK JOEY LOGANO WILL BRING TO THE TEAM? DID YOU HAVE ANY INPUT INTO THE DECISION? ARE YOU EXCITED THAT HE’S GOING TO BE ON THE TEAM? “Yeah, you know, I’m thrilled, I really am. I’m happy for him and I’m happy for Penske Racing. I’ve enjoyed the time with Sam (Hornish Jr.) in the 22 Cup car and I know he’s going to continue to have a position at Penske Racing, so I’m happy that it worked out for everybody. Joey is going to be a great move. I think you’re looking at a driver lineup next year where three of the four drivers are the youngest in the series with Ryan Blaney and you know Joey and myself. You know, I’m not saying that Sam is old but he’s right there with everyone else. I think that brings a lot of youth and vitality to Penske Racing and that’s probably something that Penske Racing hasn’t been known for in the past so I’m encouraged by that. I like Joey’s approach and I think that he has all the things that it takes to be successful. For whatever reason, it didn’t work at Gibbs. To me, it’s a fresh start for him and I think he’s bringing the right mentality to be successful. I know that if we have two great teams at the Cup level at Penske Racing that you know we can run for a championship year in and year out.”
IN SPEAKING WITH JOEY, IT SOUNDED LIKE YOU LOBBIED FOR HIM. DID THAT HAPPEN? “I certainly did. I felt like he had the right approach to be successful in so many different ways. I don’t really want to define too much of that because you don’t want other people to pick up on it but just intangibles that I saw just watching him. I think he’s going to be a great fit for Penske Racing.”
HE SAID THAT YOU GUYS HAVE A GREAT RELATIONSHIP NOW BUT THAT WASN’T ALWAYS THE CASE. DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT THAT WAS ALL ABOUT? “Yeah, absolutely. I would say that we probably got off to a rocky start and we were both fighting for the same position in the sport. It was kind of an Alpha Male thing for sure. But I think we certainly got past that when we both got to Cup and struggled. I think it reset and if anything the struggles that we both had entering the Cup series probably brought us closer together ‘cause we could relate to each other more so than anyone else. I think that probably grew the relationship when it might not have started on the right foot. I think it’s stronger than ever right now.”
DO YOU THINK WHEN THE CHASE BEGINS THAT ANYONE CAN DO WHAT TONY DID LAST YEAR AND WIN FIVE RACES OR DO YOU THINK THE CHASE IS GOING TO BE MORE OF A MATTER OF CONSISTENCY AND GETTING ONE OR TWO WINS? “Well, the odds are it’s going to be about consistency but I certainly do think that someone can pull that string of wins off. I could definitely see that happening.
“I look at the 18 car (Kyle Busch) and can’t help but think that if he makes the Chase that he’ll be one of the guys to beat because I just can’t fathom a whole season going by without him getting really, really hot at one point and that hasn’t happened so far. So, I would fully expect him to be one of those guys. Anything is possible. We’ll just have to see. That’s what’s great about the Chase, you just don’t know what to expect.”
WITHIN THE LAST 30-45 DAYS YOU MADE THE STATEMENT THAT YOU HOPED YOU GOT A PARTNER THAT WOULD GREATLY ENHANCE YOUR CHAMPIONSHIP ABILITIES AND THE CHAMPIONSHIP ABILITIES OF THE WHOLE PENSKE RACING ORGANIZATION. HOW DOES JOEY LOGANO FILL WHAT YOU WERE SAYING BACK THEN? “Well, I think he’s an elite talent who has a proven track record of winning, also has a proven off the track record of staying out of trouble. Those are key elements for sure. And so I look at that and with some other things that you know, not to go too far into what I said earlier about some of the intangibles, but I just have a feeling, man. Sometimes you just believe it.”
YOU’VE WORKED WITH SAM AS A TEAMMATE TO VARYING DEGREES. DO YOU KIND OF FEEL FOR HIM A LITTLE BIT? HE’S A PROVEN CHAMPION IN INDY CAR AND HE’S DONE WHAT EVERYONE HAS ASKED HIM TO DO IN NATIONWIDE AND THINGS LIKE THAT. WHAT’S THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOU TWO? “I think I have a good relationship with Sam. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how things have worked out over the last few weeks. I think he’s done a phenomenal job. I think that he will still have a place within Penske Racing, will have opportunities for success. I think that it’s the wrong approach to be sad for Sam right now because that’s a defeatist attitude as though he’s got no shot at getting back at the Cup level. I don’t think that’s the case at all. So I’m a little taken back by those that are pleading for sympathy on for Sam’s behalf because I think he still has got just as strong a shot as ever especially with his performance over the last few weeks. I think he’s got just as strong a shot as ever of getting back into a great Cup car at Penske Racing. I think there were some other wheels in motion that probably prevented it on this timeline but you know life doesn’t always work on the timeline that you want it to. I would say by no means does Sam Hornish not landing in the 22 Cup ride full-time mean that there is a fork in his career. I think that’s the wrong approach. I think that he has a chance to continue to prove himself this year and to continue to put himself in the running for future opportunities.”
WHAT’S THE BIGGER SURPRISE OF THE GUYS WHO ARE FIGHTING TO GET INTO THE CHASE THIS YEAR? JEFF GORDON, CARL EDWARDS AND KYLE BUSCH WERE ALL EXPECTED TO BE LOCKED IN AT THIS POINT. “That’s really a tough question to answer. I think the bigger surprise hasn’t been the lack of results from those three teams you mentioned. I think the bigger surprise has been the performance of the Waltrip teams to really push them out. When you look at it, I don’t think that Kyle or Jeff, you could certainly maybe argue a little differently with Carl, but I don’t think they’ve ran poorly. I think the Waltrip organization stepped up and pushed them out. At the end of the day there are only 12 holes. So it doesn’t mean necessarily that if you’re not those 12 spots that you ran worse than you did the year before. Sometimes it just means everybody else ran a little bit better and you didn’t improve. So I think they should be the real story, the performance that they’ve had and not necessarily kicking everybody else in the butt that hasn’t performed. I think that they’ve just taken those seeds. And if you look at it, they’ve taken two spots that would have clearly put Jeff and Carl in elsewise.”
NASCAR HAS CLARIFIED THE PARMETERS OF THE BUSHINGS AND EVERTHING IN THE LAST DAY AND IT SEEMS LIKE YOU’RE GETTING CREDIT ON TWITTER FOR THAT. DOES THIS RULE MATTER TO YOU? DO YOU FEEL LIKE IT WAS NECESSARY? DO YOU FEEL THAT YOUR OUTSPOKENNESS PLAYED A ROLE? “I don’t know, that’s tough to judge. I don’t think that there’s anyone that has a complete picture of everything that has transpired over the last three to four months. I’m hesitant to talk any more about it because it goes back to the perception that I’ve stated before, that most people have that follow the sport that stock cars are all the same. That’s a healthy perception in some ways and it’s an unhealthy perception in other ways because when you go through a rough stretch like we just talked about whether it be Carl or somebody else, everyone looks at you and says, “Well, you quit wanting to drive or you lost all your talent.’ No, that’s not what happened (smiles). And I think that with my team I feel like we’re performing at a very high level with the things that we control and that we believe in. You know that process for allowing those parts to be run was not one that I think we were really comfortable with or happy with how it played out. I don’t think that we’ve seen the last of how that’s all going to play out. Like anything else, I equate it to perhaps the NBA where you know you can make a rule saying you know traveling is illegal but, you know, it’s how it’s enforced that really matters. If it’s enforced on LeBron or not on LeBron and on everybody else, it makes for a different game. So I think the real challenge is how things are enforced, not necessarily what’s wrote down on paper. Because that’s what the rules are; the rules are what’s enforced, not what’s wrote on paper. So we’ll just have to see. I don’t think it’s all played out yet. My personal opinion is that the sport, if you look through the history of it, has always had a balancing act between parity and innovation. You know as the teams have progress over the last decade or so, the budgets for development have increased, you know, ten-fold to levels that are hard to monitor. And I respect immensely the process that NASCAR has had through the history of the sport to get it where it’s at and to monitor that. But it’s getting harder and harder and I sympathize for them and that process. So I think understanding how that’s all done over the next few weeks is something no one really knows. I think it’s way too early to say that so-and-so lost their advantage and so-and-so gained one. I think it’s something that’s got to play out but it certainly has my attention. You know how that whole situation is managed will dictate the speed that the field has within its top cars. And as I’ve said before, speed is the backbone of success in racing. It’s not all of it; you know execution is part of it but if there are cars that have large quantities of speed over others, the odds are pretty much in their favor that they’re going to be the ones to win the Chase. You know I think there are big questions still to be answered. I think it’s too early to say this has happened and this hasn’t. Everything is going to be changed so we’ll just have to see how it all plays out.”
YOU SAID A WHILE BACK THAT YOU HAD A SPECIFIC DRIVER IN MIND FOR THE 22 CAR. IS IT THE DRIVER THAT WAS HIRED? “Yeah, I mean it’s something that’s been a work of progress for quite a while and I think Tim Cindric, in his comments this past Tuesday, went over it pretty well. It was something that was probably 10 months in the making, you know after everything happened last December. And you know, it was a square peg in a round hole then and now it’s the round peg in the round hole and it came together.”
JOEY TALKED AT LENGTH THIS WEEK ABOUT HOW MUCH INFLUENCE YOU SEEM TO HAVE ON DAY-TO-DAY DECISIONS AT PENSKE AND THAT HE GOT THE AUDIENCE WITH ROGER. HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD THAT INFLUENCE? DID THAT COME ABOUT LAST YEAR WHEN YOU BECAME A CHASE CONTENDER? “I don’t want to overstate the position that I have at Penske Racing. I’m happy with what it is. I’m trying to grow it but you know I think that certainly the more success you have, any driver with a race team, the more pull you have. So, I spend my time focused on being successful and knowing that’ll turn around to opening up other doors to be a leader. Certainly, when those doors open I’m not afraid to walk through ‘em.”
WAS THE WHOLE SITUATION WITH A.J. ALLMENDINGER JUST A VERY SHORT DEAL THAT YOU WEREN’T LOOKING AT HIM STAYING FOR VERY LONG? “I don’t think that at all. You know, like I said, it was a round peg in a square hole with Joey and once we’d gone through the process with A.J. I think everyone was committed to making it work. Obviously, it did not. I think we all know what happened there. But that just reopened the door and made the square hole round.”
