Brad Keselowski’s feelings about blocking in restrictor-plate races are well-known, and the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford didn’t hold back after teammate Joey Logano threw a block on Kyle Busch in Turn 4 during last Sunday’s Busch Clash at Daytona.
Contact from Busch’s Toyota turned Logano sideways and ignited a six-car wreck that eliminated Keselowski, an innocent victim of the melee. Keselowski subsequently characterized Logano’s block as “dumb” and didn’t walk back his opinion during Wednesday’s Daytona 500 media day interviews, even though he and Logano discussed the incident after the fact.
“I think I’ve been pretty consistent and verbal about the blocking on the race track, so I don’t really have anything that I feel differently about with respect to that,” Keselowski said on Wednesday during Daytona 500 media day at Daytona International Speedway. “As far as the comments specific to Joey, I’ll keep those between him and I.”
Keselowski is in a contract year at Team Penske, and he enters the season with new crew chief Jeremy Bullins after a personnel shakeup within the organization. From Keselowski’s point of view, those issues haven’t elevated the stress level to an appreciable degree.
What grated on the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion was having a car wrecked in a race he thought he could win.
“I’m probably a little bit stuck in the forest to see it from the trees, but with respect to that, I hate losing races that I feel like we were in position to win, so I hope that never changes regardless of team dynamics, contract dynamics and so forth,” Keselowski said.
“I think most people would tell you that’s a good thing that you want to win and you hate losing, so certainly we were in position to win that race, and I’m proud of that and we weren’t able to capitalize on it through no fault of our own, which is frustrating—whether it’s here or anywhere else.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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