Brian Keselowski plans to join brother in running full Nationwide Series slate
By Lee Montgomery - Associate Editor
Monday, January 26, 2009
Brian Keselowski will try to join his younger brother, Brad, as a full-time NASCAR Nationwide Series driver this season.
Brian Keselowski said Monday in a phone interview that he hopes to be able to run all the Nationwide races in 2009 for his own K Automotive Motorsports team.
“It’s something I’ve been wanting to do,” Keselowski said. “I’ve never gotten to run a full season in a heavy stock car my whole career. The last time I ran a full season was in a Late Model in 2003. I’ve always felt like I’m a better driver if I could just run more. … I know I run better if I keep getting in the car.
“And I’m just trying to make a living.”
Keselowski, 27, ran seven Nationwide events last year for K Automotive. He’s the older brother of Brad Keselowski, a Nationwide regular who drives for the powerhouse JR Motorsports team.
Brian, however, is working on a shoestring budget as he takes over ownership of the team his family has owned for years. His father, Bob Keselowski, will serve as crew chief this year.
The team will again run Dodges in the Nationwide Series, getting engines from Ernie Elliott. Keselowski will use the No. 26, he said, after NASCAR swapped numbers among other teams.
K Automotive would like to run a second car as a start-and-park effort to help pay for Keselowski to compete in all the races. Keselowski said Dennis Setzer, who drove for K Automotive in the Truck series in past years, would likely drive the second car.
The No. 26 entry doesn’t have a primary sponsor, and Keselowski said the team would do a quick re-evaluation after the third race of the season at Las Vegas to make sure it has enough cars to continue running.
“There’s an opportunity to get locked in, because while there may be a lot of start-and-park guys, once you get in and race, you can beat all them in points, and you might get yourself locked in,” Keselowski said. “Once we get to that, maybe we can start making some money and can afford to be able to do all this.”
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7 responses to "Brian Keselowski plans to join brother in running full Nationwide Series slate". Post a Comment.
Mr Galvan said:
Jan 26, 2009 at 11:02 PMGreat news!! another dodge team!! hell yea!! I hope he has a good season!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportBernadette Motherway said:
Jan 27, 2009 at 11:12 AMGood for Brian. I hope him and his Dad can win a couple of races and financially make it through the whole season. Good Luck Guys!
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» Confirm Abuse Reportdick lee said:
Jan 27, 2009 at 3:52 PMI like his spirit and hope he does well. Michigan is proud of the Keselowski family which has been racing for decades and are part of the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportAndrew Briscoe said:
Jan 27, 2009 at 3:56 PMI agree that it's great he is hoping to run the whole season. I also like that he'll be running a Dodge car, and will most likely receive little aid from his brother's team other than general advice.
Report as AbuseWhat I don't like though is that he's PLANNING to run a start-and-park car. NASCAR said that start-and-park teams in Cup would notice their Cup ownership license would quickly be revoked if they started doing that, so how about we move it to Nationwide as well? I don't like a Nationwide race that's got 43 cars, but by lap 10 there's 33 on the track and 10 cars "out" of the race if there's been no accident. Get rid of the start-and-park teams in all three series, and I think NASCAR will be a lot better off- even if it means not having 43 cars at every race.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportBernadette Motherway said:
Jan 27, 2009 at 5:41 PMI don't think the Keselowskis are going to consiously run a start-and-park car (I hope not anyway). If they have the $ and sponsorship, I think they will try and finish every race they can.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportAndrew Briscoe said:
Jan 27, 2009 at 8:10 PMI don't mean the primary car, I meant this comment: "K Automotive would like to run a second car as a start-and-park effort to help pay for Keselowski to compete in all the races."
Report as AbuseI don't like the start-and-park ideas, much less someone outright saying that they were likely going to run a start-and-park team. I think Brian could be just as good as his brother, it's just a matter of him getting the same opportunities. Start-and-park really isn't the way to go.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportWendy Ebert said:
Feb 28, 2009 at 4:52 PMCongrats to Brian in the Nationwide series me and my husband watch for him every week and root for him. The best of luck for Brian in the 2009 series in the Nationwide series
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