May 2, 2009
By Brenda Benedict
“I was here to win and I’ve got no other reason to be here than to win.”
“If we got a real good car, we're gonna try to take care of it so we can make sure if we cannot win the race, .., we can at least get the points we need to sort of dig ourselves out of this hole we're in.”
Both of these statements were made by competitors in last Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Talladega. Compare those two statements and tell me who you think won the race.
If you picked Brad Keselowski as the author of the first statement, you are right. Keselowski’s commitment and focus to winning has been clear since he emerged on the racing scene.
The second statement was made by Dale Earnhardt Jr. this week in a teleconference with NASCAR.
A person who wins has to have a deep hunger to achieve. NASCAR fans want to see drivers who display this great hunger to win. I believe we saw just that at Talladega.
Last weekend’s races saw two first-time winners, David Ragan in the Nationwide race and Brad Keselowski in the sprint Cup race. I saw in both racers a hunger that lead to their victories.
Even Dale Earnhardt Jr. recognizes the depth of Keselowski’s dedication to winning. He spoke at the NASCAR teleconference this week and said, “So I'm not surprised at all because I know how good Brad is and I know how hungry he is. You have to imagine how amazingly driven he was to be sitting there in that position at the end of that race. If you know Brad at all personally, you know that's all he does, is think about racing 24/7, what he can do. So he's almost overanalyzing himself at times. I have to kind of tell him to stop thinking so much about it.”
So Keselowski is “amazingly driven” and only “thinks of racing 24/7”? It makes me wonder what motivates Earnhardt and how often does he think of racing?
Keselowski’s car owner noted the difference the hunger to win makes in the attitude. “This win is the best thing to ever happen to me,” said Finch, who took a chance on Keselowski. I keep using the older ones, and the older ones want to slide back in the rocking chair and get paid at the end of the race.”
Keselowski’s attitude is very apparent, “I was here to win and I’ve got no other reason to be here than to win and put these guys in victory lane. Holding your line was the way to do it, and I’m sorry it caused a wreck and sorry for those that are hurt.”
Kyle Busch is known for having a very bad attitude when he does not win a race. Last Saturday after placing 10th at the Nationwide race, a reporter asked Busch if he was just relieved that he placed in front of Edwards whom he leads in points. Busch was not polite in his response to the question and let the reporter know that he is only happy when he wins.
That is the kind of attitude that makes for good racing.
The ‘whatever it takes” attitude makes for winners on and off the race track.
It is a shame that Keselowski had his win overshadowed by the wreck at the finish line. Keselowski is only the second rookie to ever win at a Cup race at Talladega. He is also the 10th driver to claim Talladega as his first Sprint Cup win. I wanted to see more of Keselowski this week but instead everywhere I turned, Carl Edwards was popping up on interview shows including Larry King Live.
Now I know NASCAR must be very happy with all the publicity. Our local TV news started the sports segment with this teaser, “Even if you are not a NASCAR fan, you can going to want to watch this wreck.”
But for a real NASCAR fan, the story should be that a young driver who is ‘amazingly driven’ stepped up to the plate and did what it took to cross the finish line first. I want to see more of this every week. I’m sorry that Keselowski won’t be in the Sprint Cup race this week. Someone needs to give this young man a ride soon.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
