In the aftermath of the first major wreck in last Sunday’s Busch Clash at Daytona, Brad Keselowski was far from charitable when assessing the blocking attempt by Team Penske teammate Joey Logano.
As the cars roared through Turn 4 on Lap 66, Logano blocked the Toyota of Kyle Busch, who had a run on Logano’s No. 22 Ford. A tap from the nose of Busch’s car turned Logano sideways and triggered the six-car wreck.
Keselowski’s Ford was collateral damage in the crash, his mangled car eliminated from the race. After a mandatory trip to the infield care center, Keselowski characterized his teammate’s blocking attempt as “dumb, dumb, dumb.”
Keselowski and Logano both visited Disney World with their families the day after the season-opening NASCAR Cup exhibition event at Daytona International Speedway, but they didn’t see each other there.
“We didn’t run into each other there,” Logano said on Wednesday during Daytona 500 media day interviews at the speedway. “It’s a big place. “There’s a lot of people there. Oh, my God, there are people everywhere there!
“I figured we would run into each other at some point, but we never did. It’s a big place.”
However, Logano and Keselowski subsequently discussed the incident.
“We’re going to have different opinions on a lot of things all the time,” Logano said. “That’s part of racing and things like that, but I think we’ll be fine… There are different perspectives on the whole thing, and I had no clue. I was like, ‘Hey, what are you mad about? Let’s talk about it.’ There were things that I had no idea about, and I just explained my side of the story. That’s all you can really do. I think once he understands the whole side of the story…
“And you know how it is, you get out of the race car, you’re frustrated, you’re mad, your emotions are running high, you haven’t re-watched anything yet, and they stick a microphone in your face and ask you what happened. You don’t really know until you go back and study it and figure it all out. That stuff happens, but, like I said, we’ve been friends for a long time.
“I’m not really that worried about it. It’s going to be OK. We’re going figure it out. Everything always blows by. Everything gets better all the time.”
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.
- Biffle, Dorton, Sprague join NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2025 nominees for the first time - April 24, 2024
- NASCAR will experiment with different tire compounds for the first time at All-Star Race - April 23, 2024
- Legacy Motor Club reserve driver Corey Heim to sub for Erik Jones at Dover - April 23, 2024