Keselowski still chasing the rush of another championship and the Daytona 500
Yesterday at 06:11 PM
A Daytona 500 win still eludes Brad Keselowski. He’s tried for 15 years.
He has won a NASCAR Cup Series championship, though. It came in his third Cup Series season (2012) while driving for Roger Penske.
So, what does Keselowski get asked about more: trying to win the Daytona 500 or when he's going to win a second championship?
"Well, this time of year, the first," Keselowski said. "The former rather than the latter, which is normal. I it a little bit to having kids — when you get married, the first thing everybody asks is when you're going to have a kid, and then when you have the first kid, you're like, 'People are going to stop asking me that.' Then people ask me, 'When are you having another kid?'
"So, it's always onto the next thing, and I understand that."
Keselowski started his first Daytona 500 in 2010 and finished 36th. On paper, the numbers don't look as though he’s had chances to win the event with only three top-10 finishes, but he is one of the better superspeedway racers in the series and, in the Daytona 500, has led 180 laps.
There have been close calls. A particular sting was finishing third in 2014 after restarting on the outside of the front row for the green-white-checkered finish. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was leading and won the race, left Keselowski behind with a stronger restart that pulled the bottom lane away.
In 2021, his race ended in the crash heard around the NASCAR world. The field was running single file in the final laps with Keselowski making the move to second place behind then-Penske teammate Joey Logano with two laps to go. On the final lap, going into Turn 3, Keselowski made a move to the left of Logano as Michael McDowell was still pushing him. The end result was a crash that collected a large portion of the field.
There’s a possibility Keselowski will never win the Daytona 500, not that he'd be the only driver who repeatedly tried but wound up missing it on his resume.
"Yes and no," Keselowski said when asked if that's something he thinks about. "When you're here and in the moment and you want it really bad, those questions tend to come to light, but once the race is over, you move on to the next task or challenge ahead. When they load those haulers up Sunday night it's going to be all Atlanta. It's over. Daytona doesn't exist anymore and that's some of the beauty to a NASCAR season. We talk about the hard part, which is the grind of 30-some weeks, but one of the beauties of it is when you have a bad week, there's always another one right in front of you to recover from, and there's a chance to put it behind you and move on."
As for winning a Cup Series championship, it's been 12 years since he felt that success. Those were fruitful years driving for Penske, but after his initial quick success, the championship opportunities were few and far between. Only twice has he made the Championship 4 – 2017 and 2020 – although he's kept on winning.
A second championship, this far removed from the first, would give a different sense of appreciation.
"It would definitely feel different to win another championship," he said. "I'm in a different place in my life in so many ways, personally, professionally and beyond, that that feels like another life. I'm sure anyone else would attest.
" when I was 28 and now I'm 40, so it's different. Your 20s to your 40s … things stand out as things you recognize and appreciate versus what you don't. I'd love to be in a position to have that problem."
