JR Motorsports’ Brad Keselowski meets with NASCAR officials over Denny Hamlin incident
JR Motorsports' Brad Keselowski finished fifth in the NASCAR Nationwide Able Body Labor 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. // Ivan Veldhuizen, NASCAR Scene
AVONDALE, Ariz. – A day after tangling with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin during the Nationwide Series race, JR Motorsports’ Brad Keselowski met with NASCAR Chairman Brian France, NASCAR President Mike Helton and NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton in the NASCAR hauler at Phoenix International Raceway.
Keselowski, who is in his second race as the new Sprint Cup driver for Penske Racing, was in the hauler for about 20 minutes.
“The biggest message was – because I don’t want you guys to speculate on [it] – was just trying to pick and choose who you want to be your friends and enemies in the sport and making sure that I understood that process, what it takes to make it at this level and how you’re going to need friends down the line and make sure that you don’t alienate everybody but at the same time to not give up on being a hard charger,” Keselowski said prior to the drivers meeting for the Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. “I think that was the basic tone of the conversation, of just trying to figure out what it takes to be successful at this level. I certainly don’t feel like I have all the answers but I’m doing the best I can and will welcome any of the advice I can get.”
Hamlin and Keselowski have had contact with each other in three of the last seven Nationwide Series races. On Saturday, Hamlin nudged Keselowski to take a position and then Keselowski twice tapped Hamlin, who spun.
Keselowski also ruffled feathers when he won at Memphis last month for having contact with other drivers.
“You’re always changing your style, you’re always progressing as a driver,” Keselowski said. “Do I need to do things better? Yeah all the time. Is that specific to being aggressive? Sometimes, sometimes not. Being aggressive is what got me here. Nobody has handed me anything in my career. I’ve dug and clawed for everything I’ve got and the only way to do that is by being aggressive.
“So that’s not to say I need to be aggressive every race. No. There’s races where you need to play it cool and be smart. So it’s just trying to learn that timing and learning who you need to be your friends and who you can accept as being your enemies no matter what you do.”
One of those enemies is Hamlin, who called Keselowski a moron after the race and said that he does not have the respect in the Cup garage.
“I don’t really want to engage that,” said Keselowski about Hamlin’s comments. “I’m quite satisfied with my own role in the sport as it is with the other drivers. So I don’t feel the need to engage that situation.”
Keselowski joked that he had a “ham sandwich” with Helton and France.
“It went real well,” Keselowski said. “That’s probably been the most impressed I’ve ever been with NASCAR, I honestly will say that. I’m not brainwashed in saying that, either. I really respect the fact that Brian France walked in there. That meant a lot to me. It’s really the first time I’ve ever had a conversation with him.”
Pemberton wouldn’t detail specifics about the conversation.
“We just talked about things in general,” Pemberton said. “We respect the fact that these guys race hard, and they need to race hard and they’re going to continue to race hard. But to have someone have a potential DNF out of being too aggressive is what we don’t need. Basically, that’s it.”
Pemberton said the Hamlin-Keselowski contact went both ways but “one went a little too far.”
“Their give-and-take margins are less,” Pemberton said. “We see that as the younger crowd gets in here, and it happened 10 years ago, 15 years ago, 20 years ago. These guys run harder earlier in the race, their tolerance in each other is less, the margins they give each other is less. … They need to continue to race hard, but accidents will happen enough on their own.”
