[media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”214″]
[/media-credit]Champions week in Las Vegas has come to a close, the 2012 Sprint Cup Series season is officially over and we quickly have turned our attention to the future. For the first time in his amazingly young career – has it been mentioned it’s only his third full season? – Brad Keselowski was crowned the champion.
He’s the new man atop NASCAR’s impressive mountain and he’s determined to let everyone know he’ll be a new kind of champion. A beer guzzling and loud one when he wants to be and by the way, the now infamous large beer glass from the Homestead celebration is up for auction for charity.
It might take some time to sink in that the 28-year-old from Michigan is a Sprint Cup champion. That he single handedly took down the juggernaut that is Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports.
Yet, it’s what makes Keselowski stand tall and out from his competition. He never wavered nor found himself intimidated by Johnson’s presence. Instead, taking the approach of, “here I am, in your face.” Throughout what would become his championship season he made Johnson know he was there by speaking his mind on Hendrick’s cars and setups.
At Indianapolis in August, he said that everyone else was driving trucks while Johnson was driving a car. That after Johnson had won his fourth Brickyard 400 in dominating fashion. At Michigan, where Johnson again led a portion of the race, Keselowski noted that Penske doesn’t work in the grey areas like Hendrick does with their setups. And to start the Chase, Keselowski bested Johnson by getting in his head, coming back up onto the track early from pit road, infuriating the HMS driver.
It was only fitting that it then came down to Keselowski and Johnson for the title. His five wins, tying him for the most on the season with Johnson and Denny Hamlin, made Keselowski a constant threat. He wasn’t just there when the Chase started he blew through the Cup Series and rewrote his statistics all 36 weeks in 2012.
“I think the wins, the sport’s built on winning. Those are the moments that I’m the most proud,” said Keselowski on his season. “The championship is a reflection of the year, but a race win is a reflection of a weekend. It’s a much narrower view but a very important view, so the wins themselves to me, mean the most.”
Yet, he was not supposed to be at the head table in Vegas. Not the driver leading the rest of the Chasers on a Victory Lap on the strip. Or the man that received all the accolades from his competitors and other champions like Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. From those came the highest compliments for Keselowski.
Stewart, who knows quite well about being your own kind of man, noted that the late Jim Hunter would be especially proud of Keselowski and his style. Gordon chiding that a polished champion isn’t always a good thing, while joining Johnson in saying how proud he was of Keselowski and what a great champion they think he’ll make.
A champion. We must all adjust our eyes, taking in the site of he and crew chief Paul Wolfe in the blue Miller Lite uniforms holding the Sprint Cup. No, it wasn’t supposed to be now, not this soon. But here’s the Twitter fiend, the hard nosed, brash driver for Penske Racing that now is face of the sport.
“I love the challenge of making this sport better, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to compete in a sport that some great people before me have helped build up to this level,” revealed Keselowski. “And it’s the responsibility of all of us within the sport right now to not only maintain it’s current level but work very hard to improve upon it. And if I’m able to do that, I think that’s good, it makes me feel like I was deserving of the opportunity or the privilege to participate.”
Far from the driver who once found himself fighting with Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin, as he says, when trying to prove himself. Or the man who went flipping at Atlanta, courtesy of Edwards and noted, “That ain’t cool.” No longer the driver who was placed in line at Hendrick, seemingly in position to take over for Mark Martin when he was supposed to eventually retire. Instead, as he’s done with everything else, Keselowski had other plans.
Wanting a full-time Cup ride, feeling deserving after a Talladega win in which he sent Edwards for an airborne ride of his own, he got one from another team. He broke into the sport with his family, jumped into Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s spotlight then rode it over to Penske Racing and a championship just three short years later. It’s been quite the ride for Keselowski, one in which he hopes continues for a long time.
“The respect shown to you by the community, that’s actually above the money and the trophy,” said Keselowski about the best part of being a champion. “The respect is worth – it’s priceless, how about that? Just the way you’re treated by all those around you, whether it’s people you know or don’t know. That’s really, really cool.”
The celebration in Vegas, in which Keselowski again enjoyed his sponsor’s product, might only be the beginning. Sure, he might be the champion, but he knows how to have a good time. Though, in appropriate times he knows his role as the sports ambassador. Evident in dressing and acting the part, shown not only in Vegas but also before he even won the title. His politically correct rant in Phoenix about wrecks and fights in the sport, the second to last race of the year, was the first inkling that Keselowski knew what lay ahead for him.
He knows that many will now look up to him. That he has a duty to represent the sport in a champion way. And his reign as that man began Friday night at the Winn in Las Vegas. Where a different side of Keselowski was shown, when he stepped into the bright lights and received his championship ring.
The never at a loss for words Keselowski, became ever humble. And without a script or prompts, delivered a heartfelt speech to his nation. One that was perfect for the occasion and left nothing unsaid.
Then, just as it hit all of us what position Keselowski was in, it seemed to do the same for him. Looking at the champion’s rafters he saw his name by those who have come before. Never believing he’d be mentioned in the same category as the late Dale Earnhardt.
We didn’t believe it either, kid. But look at you now.
