November 21, 2009
By Brenda Benedict
Brad Keselowski was sent to the wood shed this week. After his performance in last Saturday’s Nationwide race, NASCAR wanted to talk with him. Keselowski’s aggressive driving in the weekend’s Nationwide race caused Denny Hamlin to speak out. After the race Hamlin said that he was going to seek retaliation in the Nationwide race at Homestead this week. On Sunday, Keselowski was called to the NASCAR hauler for a meeting with NASCAR’s head honchos. But this time, even Brian France was present, showing the seriousness of the situation.
Last April I wrote about Keselowski’s aggressive driving style. At the time, I was applauding the young driver for not backing down when he was criticized for being too hard-driving and ruffling feathers of the other drivers.
In the article, I quoted Keselowski as he was describing his career and how he was had put everything he had into making it big.
“When asked what he would have done if his racing career had not continued, Keselowski responded, “There was no Plan B. I was going to figure out how to make this work. I didn't give up on it. And that's how I got the opportunity I got is because I didn't give up on it.”
I believe it is now time for Keselowski to come up with Plan B. He has been making too many enemies on the track although his record this season is impressive.
Keselowski is currently ranked third in the Nationwide Series points standings and is 60 points behind second place Carl Edwards. In 34 races this season, Keselowski has four wins, 22 top-fives, 28 top-10s and two pole awards. His average starting position was 13.3 and average finish 6.8.
Keselowski’s career has definitely been on the upswing since joining the JR Motorsports team. Before life with JRM, Keselowski’s best NASCAR finish had been 24th. In his 103 races for JRM, he has racked up six wins, 33 tops-fives, 53 top-tens and three poles.
I was surprised at the lack of discussion of Keselowski’s visit to the NASCAR hauler on SPEED-TV. But I was following the entire ordeal on Twitter. If you haven’t used Twitter during a race, you are really missing the inside story of what is happening at the track. The Twitter ‘lines’ were buzzing and we knew when Keselowski went into the hauler, when he came out and what he had to say for himself.
Jimmy Spencer did address the situation on SPEED and soundly criticized Keselowski and his aggressive driving style. I could only think that was like the pot calling the kettle black -- to quote the old adage.
John Robert’s did call Spencer on his logic. “Jimmy, this is not the Witness Protection Program. You are out here to get noticed. He is driving the #12 Penske next year.”
Roberts was concurring with me that Keselowski’s style had gotten him noticed and he has successfully secured a ride for 2010 with the Penske.
My question is how long will Brad Keselowski continue in this manner before it comes back to bite him? Having one driver seeking retaliation is simply NASCAR. But when the entire garage is mad at you, you may have a problem.
Brad Keselowski is moving up to the ‘bigs’ now and he will be running in the Sprint Cup Series. He is going to need to have friends who aren’t out to get him and carrying a grudge against him.
It is time for Keselowski to devise Plan B and adjust his style. His aggressiveness worked to get him noticed and move him up to a better ride. Now it’s time to find a balance so his stay in the Sprint Cup Series will be long and successful.
You can follow me at Twitter @nascarfaithful
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.
