City Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
On Sunday, Brad Keselowski didn’t make the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
So he knows there’s room to improve as he heads into the final 10 races of his first year as a co-owner of the renamed Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing.
And he knows he’ll be impatient when it comes to making progress.
“It’s never going to be fast enough,” Keselowski said. “That’s the reality. There’s been some curveballs here and there, and we’re not where we want to be, without a doubt. But it’s part of the adventure.”
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Some drivers invest in real estate. Keselowski invested in a race team to go with his manufacturing company. Which is to say the 2012 Cup champion embraces the unconventional.
“It’s an adventure,” he said of his race team. “If it’s easy, it’s probably not worth it.”
Keselowski talked about his organization following a recent test at Martinsville. Chris Buescher sits 21st in the standings, while Keselowski is 28th; Keselowski would be 22nd, eight points behind Buescher, if he hadn’t been issued a 100-point penalty for a technical violation earlier this year.
NASCAR doesn’t allow teams to test except for a handful of times during the season, and it limited practice to 20 minutes at most races this year. Beyond that, teams can’t make many adjustments following practice for a race.
As such, the test at Martinsville was something Keselowski believes will help his team.
“It’s nice to be able to test,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to get on tracks. I really missed being able to drive race cars. You get to race — don’t get me wrong — but part of the race car driver experience is working with your team and dialing your race car in at test sessions and practices.
“Those have been gone for a while.”
Keselowski wants more practice time
During a meeting with the media in June, Brad Keselowski lobbied for more practice and explained why he thinks it’s necessary.
Keselowski is among those owners lobbying to have more practice time next year. He believes his organization comes to the track possibly a little behind other teams that have invested more money in racing simulation programs.
“Some of the areas where we’re behind is we don’t have the investment that some other guys have in the simulation and all those other things that really help you overcome the practical stuff, the lack of it,” he said.
Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpock grass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!
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