BROOKLYN, Mich. – Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Brad Keselowski returns to his home track in the Irish Hills of Michigan looking to find Victory Lane for the first time with the unknowns of the 2019 rules package.
Keselowski came up short with a runner-up finish last August, but Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 will undoubtedly be a completely different animal with much slower speed and the benefit of drafting.
For Keselowski though, new rules package or not, he wants to win at home.
“Yeah, I feel like I have sat on this podium here the last half a dozen years after the race finishing second or third which really stinks,” said Keselowski. It is better than finishing poorly. It is a huge item on the bucket list. A check mark that is not there. I feel like we have had the opportunity and we have made a few mistakes. I feel like in some ways we have been good but not great enough to do it. I think 2012 I had a really good shot at winning it.”
A 30-time Cup winner and an accolade of accomplishments, Keselowski said winning in the Motor City would be one of the pivotal victories of his flourishing career.
“It would certainly be one of the biggest wins of my career.” He added. “I try not to think too much about it because you just get some bad vibes going I think, and you don’t just do your thing. It is certainly always on my mind.”
Much like we’ve seen throughout the 2019 season, the realization of what to expect on Sunday remains unclear. For Keselowski though, he’s going to keep on keeping on and hopes the lanes expand and allow the cars to have the grip to put on a good show.
“It is hard to answer,” Keselowski admitted about the rules package at the 2.0-mile speedway. “It is hard to predict every one of them. We can make some educated guesses, but my initial thought was that it would look a little bit like last weekend but now I am not quite so sure because of the way that the track has run in.
“The biggest variables are going to be how many lanes are available for the cars to have grip and to corner with. The wider the track is in the corners the better the racing is going to be. We really won’t know that until after all of the practice sessions and really into the race to see how wide it gets.”
Already a three-time winner in 2019, Keselowski admits the current rules package is much different and being able to do things you couldn’t do before certainly ramps up the excitement – but when it comes to racing for the checkered flag – the basics remain the same and that’s what the Team Penske plans to clutch too.
“It is definitely different,” offered Keselowski, a native of Rochester Hills, Michigan. “There are some things you could do now that you couldn’t do before. There are as many, if not more things that you could do before that you can’t do now. I wouldn’t go so far as to say the word “neutered”. I would just use the word “different”.
At the end of the day, it is still a challenge and there is still a race to be put on and there is going to be a winner and a lot of losers. The basics remain the same.”
Although Keselowski has a goose egg in the win column, he has been able to capture six top-five and 10 top-10 finishes to his credit in 19 Michigan starts.
Even without the win, experience seems to be everything at the top of the ladder in Cup and for Keselowski – he hopes to showcase his craft once again.
