DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Brad Keselowski is often considered one of the favorites at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, no matter what series he is driving.
But the 2013 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion could be incredibly glad when Speedweeks is over after suffering a mechanical failure in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Racing Experience 300 forced him to retire 71 laps into the 120-lap event.
Shortly after the green flag waved for the NASCAR Xfinity Series opener, the roof hatch became unbolted from the Team Penske chassis. NASCAR allowed the team to fix the issue during the first stage break, but the No. 12 crew would soon realize that their repair efforts failed.
At the start of the third stage, the roof hatch completely separated from his No. 12 Ford Mustang and landed in the frontstretch infield. Keselowski would soon be black flagged by NASCAR – but a caution would fly before he answered NASCAR’s request.
The caution proved to be worthless for the No. 12 team as NASCAR deemed the car unsafe to return to the race track without a properly installed roof hatch.
Keselowski never returned to the race following the caution.
“I felt like I was back in the ‘50’s running a convertible here on the beach,” Keselowski said. “That was interesting. The roof, escape hatch, whatever it is called looks like there was a defect from the factory on the body and just nothing we could do. The guys tried to fix it, but it is in a spot where you can’t get to it and work on it.
“It is made the way it is made. We are stuck. It is one of those things outside your control and sometimes that is just how things go. I know we had a car that could win today. It broke on lap one, turn one, and we did everything we could to fix it for the last hour or so, but it is just not something you can fix. It has to be right from the factory and isn’t something we control. Just part of it I guess.”
Saturday’s disappointing finish continued a rough start to 2019 for the Rochester Hills, Mich. native. Keselowski was wiped out in a late-race crash in the Advance Auto Parts Clash, then suffered pit road miscues during the Gander RV Duel which resulted in a 35th place starting position for Sunday’s Daytona 500.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
