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Brad Keselowski glad to have a chance to shave off learning curve at Penske Racing
By Jared Turner - SceneDaily Staff Writer
Friday, November 06, 2009
Brad Keselowski will make his first start for Penske Racing in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Walter Scriptunas
NASCAR Scene
FORT WORTH, Texas – A freshly shaven Brad Keselowski arrived at Texas Motor Speedway Friday eager to jump in the No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge for the first time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
It seemed fitting that Keselowski got a shave before his debut with the team he’ll compete for full time next season. This, after all, is a new beginning.
And Keselowski admits he doesn’t know exactly what to expect.
“It’s just trying to lay a base to know what to work on,” he said Friday at Texas, noting that no one from Penske asked him to shave his goatee. “I don’t know if I can define what to work on right now because I really have no expectations good or bad. Everything to me is just a complete evaluation on both sides – for them to evaluate me, figure out my strengths and weakness and vice versa for the team, and in the end we’re all going to gel together and be one big happy family.
“So this is a good way to get off on the right foot to have three races and then a full winter to address whatever things we feel like we’ll need to address.”
The Penske organization announced earlier this week that Keselowski would replace driver David Stremme with three races left in 2009 to get a jump on 2010 rather than waiting for next season as originally planned. Keselowski has driven in 14 Cup races over the past two seasons, competing for both Hendrick Motorsports and Phoenix Racing this season. He won the Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway earlier this year driving for Phoenix.
Keselowski will also finish out the Nationwide Series season in the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet that he’s driven to six wins in a little more than two seasons.
So what are the 25-year-old’s impressions of his first day behind the wheel of a Penske car on a race weekend?
“My initial thoughts are that I was really surprised at how much different things are,” he said. “I didn’t expect them to be as much different as they are. The strengths are in different areas and the strengths and weaknesses are more defined than I thought they would be. So that’s really interesting.
“It was great the first time I got in the car and drove it off in the corner and said, ‘Wow, this thing drives way better here,’ but then there were two or three other areas where it was like ‘Wow, it drives way worse.’ It’s just a matter of putting strengths and weaknesses together and keeping the strengths and getting together and figuring out what we need to make the weaknesses better.”
Keselowski is paired with crew chief Roy McCauley this weekend but said he doesn’t know if McCauley will continue in that role next season after working with Stremme throughout 2009.
While Keselowski might be the new guy at the three-car Penske organization, he doesn’t plan to plan to merely stand by and learn from more experienced teammates Kurt Busch and Sam Hornish Jr.
“I’m not going to come in and be quiet, that’s for sure,” he said. “I’m going to come in and do everything I can to get this program running and going off the ground on Day One. We want to go to Daytona next year and be a contender and be a team that you guys [in the media] say can make the Chase [For The Sprint Cup]. That’s the goal. And these three races are our chance to build that momentum for next year.”
Keselowski, who has built a reputation from both his part-time Cup schedule and his Nationwide experience for sometimes being overly aggressive, isn’t all that worried about changing that perception with his new team.
“As far as disproving it or proving it, I don’t know if I’m the right guy to judge,” he said. “I think I’m standing too close to the fire to give you a good answer for that. Certainly I’ve been very aggressive lately, but the circumstances I thought have dictated that. It’s only been over the last few weeks.
“It’s not like the last two years. I think over the last two years I haven’t really wrecked anyone and then the last few weeks I’ve wrecked three or four people. I think some of it is coincidence more than anything else and I feel bad about that for sure, but I don’t feel like that necessarily [defines] my style.”
Keselowski has been involved in a number of on-track incidents this year, most notably with Carl Edwards in the Cup race Keselowski won at Talladega in April and with Denny Hamlin in the Nationwide Series race at Dover last month.
Some competitors also criticized Keselowski for driving aggressively recently at Memphis Motorsports Park.
“It’s so easy to make somebody mad,” Keselowski said. “Everybody these days is too sensitive. I mean, way too sensitive. Just relax. It’s just racing. All we do is drive cars in circles; we’re not curing cancer over here.
“It’s a challenge, but we do everything we can to have fun and not make people mad at the same time.”
Mentioned Drivers: Brad Keselowski
2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings
Driver Standings after the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6492 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | -108 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | -169 |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | -211 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | -285 |
| 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | -289 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | -321 |
| 8 | Denny Hamlin | -352 |
| 9 | Ryan Newman | -411 |
| 10 | Kasey Kahne | -476 |
| 11 | Carl Edwards | -520 |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | -666 |
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Comments
15 responses to "Brad Keselowski glad to have a chance to shave off learning curve at Penske Racing". Post a Comment.
Robby said:
Nov 6, 2009 at 6:40 PMHe went from 6th in practice to 35, what happened there?? Get used to it Brad, Bush is #1 over there, lol.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJRSMOKEFAN said:
Nov 6, 2009 at 11:49 PMBusch could be gone after next year; though. Penske still as work to do. Surprised that Brad had any speed going into the weekend. He has been there only one week.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportdeyanak said:
Nov 7, 2009 at 12:31 PMwake up #2 prior races for Kurt will provide him with a winable ride for quite a while..otherwise as to Brad..Put him in the wall...he doesn't deserve better...
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» Confirm Abuse ReportRainier said:
Nov 7, 2009 at 1:07 PMHe should shave off the wierd thing on his chin next.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportmrbreeze18 said:
Nov 7, 2009 at 2:25 PMRainier, you should read the articles you comment on. Let me quote the first sentence - "A freshly shaven Brad Keselowski arrived at Texas Motor Speedway Friday eager to jump in the No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge for the first time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series."
Report as AbuseHaving said that, I'm ready to see how others race around him since he's got that aggressive attitude. Gonna be a lot of fun to watch, hehe.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportWerner said:
Nov 7, 2009 at 3:47 PMhe's talking about others being to sensitive?...this is going to get real good...
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» Confirm Abuse Reportracer36s said:
Nov 7, 2009 at 4:47 PMFunny how Brad has a choice to keep Roy as crew chief I know that David had no choice wonder why Penske? Just go to show that Roger didn't care when Stremme was driving to change the crew chief was waiting for Brad to get in there.
Report as AbuseI wanted to see if Roy stepped up to the program when Brad got in there or was making the wrong adjustments to the car for him also.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportnascarnutsheeler said:
Nov 7, 2009 at 6:17 PM#4, that wierd thing on his chin was a goatee that he shaved off.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportjerryswiatek said:
Nov 7, 2009 at 8:49 PMHope he keeps that weird thing off, We all know what it is, Its just weird. It don't sound a little to me that he was all empressed with Penskes stuff!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportAndi said:
Nov 8, 2009 at 1:16 AMNow Brad remember.....the number 2 car, Kurt is your teammate, I don't think Roger would like it if you spun him out this week like you did last week at Talladega. (just teasing folks, but seriously I don't think Roger would like it very much)
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» Confirm Abuse ReportRainier said:
Nov 8, 2009 at 9:04 AMSorry for not reading the article on Brad before commenting about his chin scruff. It didn't ineterst me enough to read it. If the title had said something like "Keselowski sorry for completely ruining the chase this year by aggressive driving at Talladega", I may have read it. I'm a 48 fan, but I don't like seeing all the competition for the title taken out in one fell swoop due to someone bumpdrafting a competitor until he turns sideways on the front stretch. That and his display spinning Edwards in the closing laps of last weeks nationwide race have turned me off to this guy.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportnascarnutsheeler said:
Nov 8, 2009 at 9:41 AMRAINIER,I was Joking I guess trying to razz you a bit. I don't like the guy either. I'm a Carl Edwards fan and certainly did not like what he did to Carl. I have always liked Roger but am wondering why he first picks up Kurt and now this hero. I guess you are a happy camper with the way JJ is sitting, hopfully this is the last year with such dominance.There was a little competition untill Krashowski took out Jeff and Mark.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportyojoromo said:
Nov 8, 2009 at 12:37 PMNASCARNUT, Brad should have just poured a little milk on that weird thing on his chin and let the cat licked it off!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportRainier said:
Nov 8, 2009 at 12:41 PMNo worries NASCARENUTSHEELER. I am very happy with JJ. I've always liked Carl as well. He has given us some of the best finishes like when he passed JJ at Atlanta to win by a nose and his Kamikaze move to pass Johnson last year trying to bounce off the wall and keep going on the last lap. I can't remeber where that was, maybe Kansas? Something my favorite driver would never do at any rate.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportjerryswiatek said:
Nov 10, 2009 at 2:24 PMListening to the radios in practice and racing between Roger and Kurt, I don't hear a lot of love there, things may start shaping for bigger changes. I think Roger really stepped up too steal Brad. and he has the loot to do about what he wants
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» Confirm Abuse Report