Brad Keselowski recalls decision to leave Hendrick, what he saw in Penske
Not many drivers would pass up the opportunity to drive for Hendrick Motorsports but Brad Keselowski isn’t any driver.
[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”235″]
[/media-credit]Following his win at Talladega in the spring of 2009, Keselowski stated he wanted a full-time Sprint Cup Series ride for 2010. Already driving full-time in the Nationwide Series (NNS) for Dale Earnhardt Jr., while doing select Cup races in a fifth HMS car, Keselowski felt he was ready for the Cup Series.
There was only one problem; there was no room for Keselowski. Adamant about making the move, the Michigan native started exploring his options. Roger Penske came calling and Keselowski signed a multi-year deal to team with the Captain and 2004 NSCS champion Kurt Busch.
“Well, there’s no doubt that that was a very difficult decision,” said Keselowski Saturday night in Bristol after winning for the third time in 2011.
“Sometimes in life you have to step back and look at the complete picture and be able to see the complete picture and know that you have to let go to get what you want,” he said. “Let go of what you have, leave your comfort zone to make it to the next level. And I’m sure, although I did not have a spot at Hendrick for the 2010 season, I’m sure Rick and his team would have figured something out.”
Keselowski never gave them the chance, jumping at what Penske was offering. Drawn by the loyalty Roger Penske displayed while meeting with him, feeling it was the right time to join the organization and seeing many positives ahead of him, Keselowski made his decision.
“If I had gone to Hendrick or waited it out, there was a long list of bad things that could have happened and a very short list of positives things that could have happened,” Keselowski said. “And I didn’t see that at Penske. I only saw a list of thing that were good that could have happened and the biggest negative that could happened was everybody telling me I was an idiot.”
Being called an idiot is something he said he’s used to. So, he became a full-time Cup driver while still running a full NNS schedule, now with Penske and the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge. In 2010 he finally won the title that had eluded him for two seasons at JR Motorsports when he finished third in points.
The NNS program is something Keselowski is especially proud of. It was a team that he built with Paul Wolfe from the ground up from their vision. They clinched the championship early and by almost 500 points, winning six races in the process. But on the Cup side it was anything but a fairy tale.
Keselowski finished 25th in points with no wins, no top fives and only two top tens. It wasn’t the reward that Keselowski thought he’d get by joining Penske.
“I’ll be honest, last year in Cup I was miserable,” he said. “There were a lot of people that told me, ‘You should have waited, you should have waited.’ But there just wasn’t an opportunity and it’s such a tough question to answer because no one here can sit here knowing all the pieces to the puzzle.”
With just two races before the start of the Chase for the Championship it’s easier for Keselowski to say that he made the right decision. Coming into the year the puzzle pieces changed when Keselowski was moved into the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge that had been driven by Busch as Busch moved to the newly formed 22 team. Wolfe was prompted to Keselowski’s Cup crew chief and they haven’t looked back.
Three wins, rocketing from 21st to 11th in points over the last four weeks thanks to finishes of first, second, third and first. He’s most likely going to make the Chase either through moving into the top 10 in points or the wild card. Even if he only has nine top 10s and six top fives.
Just as NASCAR intended, winning means a whole lot more this season. Keselowski is winning in more ways than one, something he’s glad he’s proving was possible to everyone who doubted him.
“I’m glad we’re able to perform now and prove to everyone that it was [the right decision],” said Keselowski. “I think the performance at the end of the day is always the proof. I’m really proud of this whole group to be able to prove that this was the right call. It certainly wasn’t the easy call, but this was the right call.”
For Keselowski, where he’s at now and what he’s doing means more to him. And while he’s currently outrunning those he would have been running with at HMS, the test becomes doing it for another 12 weeks and into the season finale.
“Not the easy call, for sure,” said Keselowski. “But it’s looking real good right now.”
The Final Word – Is ESPN trying to kill NASCAR?
Life is just grand. What could go wrong? We had Saturday night racing at Bristol, which should about compensate for those little irks I tolerate the rest of the week. Sure, I might have turned 55 a month ago, I’m as bald as a certain country’s national symbol, I have the inseam of a dwarf, blood sugar like a Slurpee, my brain exploded about 18 months ago, and I refer to Santa as that skinny old bearded fart. I mean, what more could I possibly have to complain about? Then I watched ESPN’s coverage from Bristol.
[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”234″]
[/media-credit]What in hell was that? Okay, I thought Allan Bestwick did a fine job, showed some enthusiasm, but as the moderator he is supposed to be the guy who keeps it all together. He is not supposed to be the most entertaining dude on the show. They might not be the most dynamic duo ever, but usually I can stand Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree. Not on Saturday night. Both were as exciting as funeral commentary delivered from my couch, little enthusiasm, unpolished, and adding nothing to what I was already seeing with my own eyes. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, some twit handed a microphone to Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty. Funny how the audio can simply disappear from my television faster than the last crumbs of potato salad and cabbage rolls at a Thornton family dinner.
Bristol, on a Saturday night, and I started to ponder surfing the channels for a soccer match. Bristol! It takes some special kind of outfit to manage to screw that up, but ESPN did the impossible. However, we can fix this, at least if one isn’t really trying to kill NASCAR and drive all the fans at home away. First, take Dave Burns off pit row and place him alongside Bestwick. The guy always seems excited to be there, with a sense of urgency that I can feel at home. We need to hear more of that. Next, I would send Jarrett and Petree back down to the pits where they have expertise, then hire Wally Dallenbach to join the crew upstairs. He might not have been the most successful driver, but he can talk, inform, and entertain in a fashion that keeps me watching. Lord, do they ever need more of that. Oh, in order to ensure things don’t get screwed up, I would send Rusty and Brad somewhere, anywhere, as long as I don’t hear them during the course of the broadcast.
Bristol was not a total loss. The final 80 laps of 500 had some entertainment value, enough to almost compensate for the brutal coverage. Brad Keselowski kept ahead of Martin Truex Jr and Jeff Gordon to pretty much guarantee himself a spot in the Chase. Matt Kenseth looked good, but while Tony Stewart had a day from hell (and he wasn’t even watching ESPN) Clint Bowyer was just as bad and did not make up any ground in his hopes for a place in the Chase.
They try again this Sunday in Atlanta, where 23 drivers still maintain some hope in making the cut. The top eight are locked in, including the Busch boys, Jimmie Johnson, Kenseth, Gordon, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, and Ryan Newman. Only the worst kind of luck would keep Keselowski out of it. Dale Earnhardt Jr has a 39 point lead with two to go. Defending Atlanta winner Stewart has a 21 point margin, but up to eleven others can still beat out Denny Hamlin for that final wildcard spot through either points, wins, or a combination of both. I mention this as ESPN didn’t even bother putting up the updated standings during their wrap up. Again, thanks for nothing.
So, while Hamlin will have his hands full on Sunday trying to save his season, it could have been worse. Instead of racing for his life, he could have been stuck with the rest of us watching the broadcast on ESPN.
Bristol Chooses Fall Champions
The week at Bristol was like Disneyland for a race fan. There were 4 races from 4 different classes of cars. There was smoke from tires. The aroma of high test fuel hung in the air. The scent of E15 lingered just long enough to tingle in your nose. The roar of lions and tigers and bears oh my echoed through out the valley of thunder. This was heaven. This was racing at its best.Bristol displayed her pageantry much like an old time joust. Contestants came from all over the country to bide for her hand. But only a few would be chosen as crown princes for 2011.
[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”245″]
[/media-credit]Bristol’s week was sectioned up differently than other weekends. The Whelen Modified and the Camping World Trucks run on Wednesday. The reason for this difference according to Lori Worley, Public Relations official for Bristol Motor speedway is, “The reason we don’t race on Thursday is that Food City, who sponsors our March Cup event and August Nationwide event, has a huge fan experience in downtown Bristol on Thursday night. More than 25,000 people attend the event, which features driver autograph sessions, live music, free food, etc. and it’s very important to them that the event is successful. So that’s the reason we race Wednesday instead of Thursday.” Little do they know that Bristol’s race fans win all the way around, not only do they get an extra day of vacation for the race weekend, the racing is top notch and the fan experience is icing on the cake.
Wednesday saw a hard fought Whelen modified race that was for the most part dominated by Ryan Newman. Newman who had his win in New Hampshire revoked by NASCAR for an unfortunate mistake by engine builders Earnhardt Childress Racing Engines, when they mistakenly placed the wrong gaskets on the engine for the Kevin Manion entry, was out to prove that win was not because of the illegal engine.
“This is a little bit of a redemption for us, to come out here and redeem ourselves a little bit in respect to people’s opinions after Loudon,” Newman said, “It was just a really fun race, the yellow flags at the start kind of slowed everybody’s thoughts, but getting back to green flag racing, I thought we saw some really good racing. It was a lot of fun.”
Justin Bonsignore finished second followed by Todd Szegedy who came from a lap down to finish third after being in multiple on track incidents and losing a spark plug wire. James Civali and Patrick Emerling rounded out the top five. The highest placing series regular was Frank Fleming. Series icon Teddy Christopher did not compete in the race due to the lack of ride.
The Camping World Trucks put on an equally exciting show, with Kevin Harvick winning his third truck race in a row.Bristol is Bristol however and the race was not without its controversy. Elliott Sadler driving the 24 truck for the Joe Denette Motorsports team this week had contact with Kyle Busch when Busch moved up the track too soon having not cleared Sadler’s truck. Sadler clipped the 18 in the Right rear corner and turned Busch into the wall. Busch then slowed on the track waiting for Sadler to come back around and hooked Sadler causing minimal damage to the 24. Busch retreated to the garage where efforts were made to repair the badly damaged KBM entry were unsuccessful. Post race comments were heated with Kyle Busch insinuating that Sadler took him out because of “where his paycheck comes from.”
Friday, would bring the one day show of the Nationwide Series into the spotlight. The pole would be the familiar Joe Gibbs entry of Kyle Busch. The outside front row would be occupied by Gibbs team mate Joey Logano. Logano would make the firm announcement of ‘No more Mr. Nice Guy’ before the race began.
The field hosted its normal cup regulars with the exception of Brad Keselowski who was still nursing a fractured ankle and was replaced with Parker Kligerman in the Discount Tire/Ruby Tuesdays Dodge Charger.
The race was a hard fought battle between Clint Bowyer and the Gibbs team mates. Bowyer who was on board the Rheem Chevrolet for KHI led a good portion of the race leading for 109 laps.
But in the end it would be Kyle Busch beating team mate Joey Logano by the smallest margin in track history since the beginning of electronic scoring in 1993. Busch would win his fourth consecutive nationwide series race and 50th victory in the series, by just .019 seconds.
“It’s awesome,” Busch said of the 50th win, his 23rd in his past 51 Nationwide starts. “We had Mark with us there in Loudon [when Busch tied the record July 16], and it was a phenomenal way to win 49 races and tie Mark Martin. And then to come here and to be able to beat his record here at Bristol, one of my favorite places and one of the team’s favorite places, it was certainly an awesome race.”
The top five would be Logano, Bowyer, Edwards and Aric Almirola with Almirola being the highest finishing Nationwide regular.
The Sprint Cup race was a must see event. With Ryan Newman leading the field to the green flag and taking the lead early Newman would consistently run in the top 10 all day. Not so for team mate Tony Stewart who had a very uncharacteristically bad day starting 42nd and finishing 28th 4 laps down to the field.
The dominant horse in the field would prove to be the 24 car of Jeff Gordon who would lead 5 different times for a race high 206 laps. Gordon who would come out of the pits on the final stop in 4th would climb back to 3rd but was unable to get past Martin Truex Jr for 2nd.
The race win would instead go to Brad Keselowski in the Miller Lite Blue Deuce of Penske Racing. Keselowski whose race average over the last 4 races is 1.52, took the lead on lap 421 and never looked back. The obvious elated Keselowski said of his victory, “An awesome race car. An awesome race team. Penske Racing. The night race at Bristol! This is the race that Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt win. It’s the race of champions. I can’t believe it. There are races that pay more. There are races that might have a little more prestige, but this is the coolest damn one of them all. We won it!”
Four teams can now breathe a sigh of relief having clinched their chase spots. Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards all sealed up their chase spots after the race in Bristol.
Dale Earnhardt Jr, who now has 36 points on 10th place Tony Stewart, could clinch his spot after Atlanta with a strong finish. Crew Chief Steve Letarte said Monday morning that the 88 team would be taking their Kansas/Charlotte car to Atlanta. “That car that always ends up in the front of the race. We want to put on a great show for the fans.” Letarte stated that they feel it is important to keep their chase fate in their hands by racing conservatively and once that chase berth was solidified fans would see a more aggressive and very different 88 team.
The joust ended, sadly for those in the stands and in front of television sets around the world; with relief for those participants who escaped with their competitive spirits intact. Bristol choose her champions. They fought their battles with great spirit and with great respect to the lady. Her champions will stand until the spring when again the joust will begin anew.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * * * * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Congratulations to Ryan Newman on his Whelen modified series victory. For the record, anyone who has followed the series knew the gasket mistake did not win the race in New Hampshire.
Congratulations to Kevin Harvick on his Camping World Truck Series victory. Three in a row is a statement that KHI takes the owners championship very very seriously.
Congratulations to Kyle Busch on his Nationwide Series Win. 50 wins in any series is nothing to sneeze at. But 50 in the ultra competitive Nationwide series is a true showing of talent.
Congratulations to Brad Keselowski on his phenomenal performance not just in his win at Bristol, but over the last few weeks. Some never doubted it would happen. Those that did, don’t anymore.
That said, to all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.
Teammates Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch Share A Similar Meteoric Rise To The Top
Streaks are an integral part of the sporting world. A common theme with streaks, though, is that they often are not very surprising. One expects Peyton Manning to throw numerous consecutive 400 yard games or for the Pittsburgh Pirates to finish a season with a losing record year after year.
[media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”265″]
[/media-credit]It is this which makes Brad Keselowski’s streak so stunning. How a driver, who prior to this stretch was most often found mid-pack on race day, can rattle of such an impressive streak of finishes defies expectations. It is as astounding and surprising as it is unprecedented… or is it?
To find a driver with a similar meteoric rise in the Sprint Cup Series, Keselowski merely has to look across the Penske Racing shop at teammate Kurt Busch. Many forget that Busch’s arrival to the top of the Cup series was just as quick and just as surprising.
Heading into the 2002 Cup season, Busch was most known for a sole spectacular season in the Craftsman Truck Series and for being the last person Dale Earnhardt flipped off. While there were flashes of brilliance during his rookie campaign and his sophomore season, culminating in a surprise first victory at the spring Bristol race, he found himself hovering just outside of the top ten in points with seven races remaining.
At the time, many made note of his vastly improved performance in his second year of Cup racing, and many thought more thought it likely that Busch would sneak into the top ten in points by the end of the year. What occurred over the last six races shocked virtually every one covering the sport and cemented Busch as one of the future starts of the sport.
In those last seven races, Busch accumulated 3 wins, 6 top 10s, lead nearly 25% of the laps, and had an average finish of fourth. By season’s end, Busch sat in victory lane of Homestead-Miami Speedway watching Tony Stewart celebrate his first championship while contemplating his own third place points finish.
Just two years later Busch would earn his first, and so far only, Cup championship, thus solidifying him as one of the elite drivers in the sport.
Where Keselowski has an advantage is that he is reaching his potential prior to the start of the Chase for the Championship. There is some irony in that fact that Kurt Busch’s 2002 season was used as one of the justifications for a change to a new championship format.
And while there are still many miles to race, Keselowski now appears to be one of the front runners for the 2011 Sprint Cup championship, a fact that is as unbelievable to write as it is to contemplate. Despite the controversy which has followed him since the start of his Cup career, Keselowski has handled the obstacles with an increasing level of maturity.
The only question that remains is precisely how good will Keselowski be once he is completely healthy? That question alone should be enough to cause the juggernauts of Hendrick, Roush and Gibbs to sleep a little less soundly at night.
And for Brad Keselowski? Well he’ll be sleeping like a baby…
