The template for Brad Keselowski’s racing career was established in a moment of high drama April 26, 2009, at Talladega Superspeedway.
Keselowski and Carl Edwards were barreling toward the finish line on the final lap, wrestling for the win in front of several other challengers. Their cars made contact. Neither driver backed off. The impact sent Edwards’ car flying into the catch fence separating the grandstand from the track. Parts from Edwards’ car sailed into the grandstand, injuring several fans.
Keselowski won the race, his first Cup Series victory. That lap was the only lap he led all afternoon. In fact, it was the first lap Keselowski had ever led in a Cup race. He was driving part-time for team owner James Finch.
Keselowski’s nerves of steel and his willingness to drive hard along the ragged edge won him a coveted seat at Team Penske in 2010, and the Michigan native rode that horse to 34 wins and Penske’s first Cup Series championship in 2012. Along the way, he irritated more than a few drivers and had some furious feuds.
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Carl Edwards’ car flips after tangling with Brad Keselowski’s at the 2009 Talladega race.
But Keselowski also cut a different path than those who had come before him, looking at the sport with fresh eyes and always wondering how things could be different, better, more compelling. He often shared those views with media members, sometimes disturbing the suits on the executive level at NASCAR headquarters.
Ultimately, the Penske operation wasn’t enough for Keselowski. Offered an ownership stake at the Ford team commanded for so many years by Jack Roush, he jumped at the chance to both drive and turn the knobs of the bigger ship.
Over his five years at what became Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, Keselowski had modest success. He won only one race as a driver but lifted the prospects of Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece, boosting the team’s authority onto a plane that made all three cars occasionally competitive for wins and generally active in the playoffs.
But Keselowski admitted as recently as a few weeks ago that RFK remained what he called a “tier two” team, one capable of making noise occasionally but not near the level of the so-called superteams—Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Team Penske. Keselowski began his tenure at RFK with hopes of moving the team to that place, and the road has been hard.
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Now Keselowski is at a crossroads. He is 42 years old and could leave the driving side of the sport permanently with an almost-certain place in the NASCAR Hall of Fame waiting just around the bend. His plan, however, is to continue driving. Where that journey takes him remains to be seen, as there are no available rides that would give him a better shot at winning than the one he’s leaving. An intriguing possibility is some kind of partnership with Dodge, which is likely to race in Cup beginning either next year or 2028, but that would be a tough climb for a driver who likely has only a few quality seasons remaining and a car builder easing its way into a very competitive series.
What happened at RFK? Keselowski isn’t talking—a rarity, as he has almost always been open and forthcoming with the racing press, but he’ll be pushed for some answers this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It seems likely that there was some kind of disagreement about the team’s future direction.
“He said he’s not done racing, and he’s obviously a super-talented guy and a super-smart guy,” said driver Austin Cindric, who followed Keselowski into the Team Penske No. 2 cars. “I’m definitely interested to see how that all plays out and whether that’s from the team side. Obviously, Brad has run up front and led races at several points throughout the year, and you don’t do that without an extent of knowledge and talent to be able to do so.”
Keselowski, who has built a successful business portfolio outside racing, has the smarts to roll forward into an as-yet unknown first turn.
Mike Hembree has covered auto racing for numerous media outlets, including USA Today, NASCAR Scene, NBC Sports, The Greenville News and the SPEED Channel. He has been roaming garage areas and pit roads for decades (although the persistent rumor that he covered the first Indianapolis 500 is not true). Winner of numerous motorsports and other media awards, he also has covered virtually every other major sport. He lives near Gaffney, South Carolina and can be convinced to attend Bruce Springsteen concerts if you have tickets.