Bradley Aaron Keselowski (born February 12, 1984) is an American professional stock car driver and team owner currently competing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Keselowski drives the No. 6 Ford for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, a team he co-owns. He was also the owner of Brad Keselowski Racing, which competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Keselowski, who began his NASCAR career in 2004, is the second of only six drivers to win a championship in both the Cup Series and the Xfinity Series, and the twenty-fifth driver to win a race in each of NASCAR's three national series.
He is the owner and founder of Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing, a hybrid manufacturing company based in Statesville, North Carolina, specializing in additive metal technologies as well as CNC machining.
Early Life and Career[]
Keselowski was born in Rochester Hills, Michigan, and grew up in a racing family. He is the fifth and youngest child of Kay and Bob Keselowski and the nephew of Ron Keselowski. His older brother, Brian Keselowski, is also an active racing driver. Keselowski spent much of his adolescence working at his father's race shop; he swept and mopped the floors, and mowed the grass. In 2000, Keselowski began racing stock cars in the Factory Stock division.
NASCAR[]
2004-2006: Early Career[]
Keselowski began competing in NASCAR in 2004, when he began racing in the Craftsman Truck Series, driving the #29 Ford F-150 for his family-owned K Automotive Racing team. He made his debut at Martinsville Speedway, where he started 26th and finished 33rd. He made seven more starts that season, his best finish coming at Mansfield, where he finished 16th. Keselowski ended the season 34th in the final points standings.
In 2005, Keselowski began competing in the Truck Series full-time with backing from SUBcrews.com and Samson Stone. He opened the season with a career-best seventh-place finish at the Florida Dodge Dealers 250. Running every race that season, he finished 21st in points. He ran the first two races of 2006 for K-Automotive, finishing sixteenth at California Speedway, before a lack of sponsorship caused the team to temporarily suspend operations. Keselowski then drove a pair of races filling in for the injured Kelly Sutton, where he had a seventh-place start at Memphis Motorsports Park. He returned to the trucks in August, where he finished 33rd at Bristol Motor Speedway driving the #63 for MB Motorsports. He also announced he would run several races for Keith Coleman Racing in the Busch Series. He failed to qualify in his first race with the team at Bristol, but than rebounded to qualify in his next 7 straight races.
2007-2009: Breakout Years[]
In 2007, Keselowski began running in the NASCAR Busch series full time and for Rookie of the Year honors with Coleman, but the team suspended operations in July. During the 2007 racing season, Keselowski was tabbed to replace Ted Musgrave at Memphis Motorsports Park after Musgrave was suspended for an in race scuffle with another driver. He was among the fastest on the track all weekend. He qualified first for the Saturday night race, and led a majority of the race. With about 9 laps to go, Keselowski was leading when he came off turn four and got bumped by Travis Kvapil, who claimed the contact was 'accidental'. Keselowski finished 16th. Shortly afterward, Keselowski was called by car owner Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to drive the No. 88 US Navy Chevrolet for JR Motorsports for 3 races, and eventually the rest of the season. During the Camping World 300 at California Speedway, Keselowski was involved in a violent airborne accident with A.J. Allmendinger and J.J. Yeley. He complained of foot pain, but was treated and released from Loma Linda University Medical Center and was cleared to race at Richmond the following weekend. Keselowski would close 2007 with five top-10 finishes and a 25th place finish in points.
In 2008, Keselowski signed with JR Motorsports for the full Nationwide Series season. He earned 2 wins in the season, at Nashville Superspeedway and Bristol Motor Speedway, and finished third in points, the highest finishing full-time Nationwide Series-only driver. He also competed for Hendrick Motorsports in the Cup Series in the No. 25 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet in 2 races, finshing 19th in his debut at Texas Motor Speedway and 23rd in the Ford 400 at Homestead.
Keselowski returned to JR Motorsports in 2009, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet with new backing from GoDaddy.com. He also drove for Hendrick Motorsports in 7 starts in the Cup Series and the No. 09 Miccosukee Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing in five races. Keselowski pulled off a massive upset and scored his first career Sprint Cup victory at the Aaron's 499 at Talladega, after getting into Carl Edwards in the trioval on the final lap, sending Edwards flying into the catchfence. It was James Finch's first career Cup win as an owner in his 20th year of racing. Keselowski only led the final lap, which was the first ever lap Keselowski led in the Cup Series, and he became the first driver to have his first lap led as the final lap of a race. In the Nationwide Series, Keselowski scored four wins in the season, 22 Top 5s and 28 Top 10s, finishing third in the standings once again. In the Cup Series, Keselowski only scored two more top 15 finishes, and caused a fifteen car melee in the fall race at Talladega, after bumping future teammate Kurt Busch in the tri-oval. Due to his aggressive driving in the Nationwide Series and Cup Series, Keselowski earned rivalries with Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards.
2010-2021: Penske Years[]
Despite having a relationship with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Hendrick Motorsports, the team did not have a car available for him to drive in the Cup Series full time. Keselowski eventually signed with Team Penske to drive the No. 12 Verizon Dodge in the Cup Series, and the new No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge in the Nationwide Series in 2010. In the Cup Series, Keselowski ran the full season for the first time, scoring just two Top 10s and 1 pole, and finishing 25th in the standings. At Atlanta in the spring, Keselowski got into Edwards early in the race, causing Edwards to get into the wall. As Keselowski was lapping Edwards late in the race, Edwards turned into Keselowski through the tri-oval, causing Keselowski's car to spin, lift and crash roof-first into the SAFER barrier. Keselowski was okay after the crash, but was shaken up from the unexpectedly heavy impact.
In the Nationwide Series, Keselowski once again tangled with Edwards at a race at Gateway International Raceway. After getting under Edwards in turn 4 on the final lap, Edwards turned into the right quarter panel of the No. 22, during Keselowski into the wall and causing an 11-car crash. NASCAR placed Edwards on probation for his actions, fined him $25,000 and deducted 60 points from him in the Nationwide Series points standings, and NASCAR told both drivers to calm down the rivalry for face suspension from the sport. Keselowski also tangled with Kyle Busch at Bristol in the Nationwide race, where both drivers were given warnings for their actions. Keselowski would hold on to win the Nationwide Series championship, winning six races, 5 poles, and scoring 26 Top 5s and 29 Top 10s.
In 2011, Keselowski moved to Penske's flagship car, the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge. The move was caused by a sponsorship change, as Penske Racing signed Royal Dutch Shell to sponsor the second car (renumbered from No. 12 to No. 22) and Shell insisted on having the more experienced Kurt Busch drive for them. Keselowski's crew went with him from the No. 12 to the No. 2, but his Nationwide series crew chief Paul Wolfe replaced Jay Guy in the Cup Series. Keselowski scored the pole for the 2011 Coca-Cola 600 and won the 2011 STP 400 at Kansas Speedway on fuel mileage. While testing at Road Atlanta in August, Keselowski was traveling at over 200 mph on a straightaway when his brakes unexpectedly failed. He slammed into a concrete wall at 190 mph and broke his left ankle. He did not miss a race, and came back to win his second race of the season at Pocono, less than a week after the accident. The next week, Keselowski finished second at Watkins Glen, and a 3rd place finish the week after that at Michigan. He won his third race of the year at Bristol the week after, assuring Keselowski a spot in the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup. In the Chase, Keselowski was a factor for much of time, before a late spin during the Martinsville race dashed his championship hopes. He ended up fifth in standings, 84 points behind champion Tony Stewart.
2012: Championship Season[]
Keselowski in 2012
In 2012, Keselowski started the year by memorably posting pictures and status updates via Twitter from his car during a red flag at the Daytona 500. He was eventually caught up in a crash on lap 188 and finished 32nd. He won his first race of the season at the Food City 500 at Bristol, and then won the Aaron's 499 at Talladega. It was the first time since 1976 that a Dodge won a Cup Series race at Talladega, and was only the fourth win for Dodge at that track. He picked up his third win at Kentucky Speedway in June. He then went on a hot streak that lasted until the season finale, only finishing worse than 11th twice. At Watkins Glen, he led 37 laps, but was second behind Kyle Busch at the white flag, with Marcos Ambrose behind him. Busch would slip in oil in the esses, and Keselowski also slipped into the oil, getting into and spinning Busch out. Keselowski led much of the final lap, but Ambrose was able to get by Keselowski in the final turns, causing Keselowski to finish second to Ambrose in an almost carbon-copy of the previous year's finish at Watkins Glen.
In the Chase, He entered 4th place in points, and won the first race of the Chase at Chicagoland. 2 weeks after that, he won at Dover, allowing him to assume the points lead. He would finish 7th at Talladega, 11th at Charlotte, and 7th at Kansas, but his points lead over Jimmie Johnson continued to narrow. He lost the points lead to Johnson at Martinsville, as he finished 6th while Johnson won. The next week, Keselowski finished second at Texas, but his aggressive driving at the end of the race caused criticism from defending champion Tony Stewart. Keselowski would finish 6th at Phoenix while Johnson crashed, allowing Keselowski to reassume the points lead by 20 points. During a red flag, Keselowski once again tweeted from his car, and was fined $25,000 by NASCAR, saying it was prohibited under NASCAR rules (even though he was not penalized for doing the same during the Daytona 500). Keselowski qualified third at Homestead, and would finish 15th in the season finale race, but Johnson would fall out of the race with a gear failure, causing Keselowski to win the Championship, joining Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt as the only drivers to win the championship within their first three full-time seasons. In an interview with ESPN's SportsCenter during his post-race celebration, Keselowski admitted to being "a little buzzed" after consuming plenty of his sponsor, Miller Lite. The video of the interview went viral, and interviewer Kevin Connors called it the best interview in SportsCenter's history. Keselowski scored 5 wins, 13 Top 5s, 23 Top 10s and no poles in his Championship season.
RFK Racing[]
In July 2021, Keselowski announced he was joining RFR as minority owner and driver, In November the team was rebranded Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing.