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1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s
In 1995 Bob and Ron left the ARCA series to compete in the newly created NASCAR
Supertruck division for Dodge RAM trucks.
It was a big decision. K had spent eight years driving in the ARCA series, and
the boys made just two final ARCA races in the LeBaron in 95. The first outing,
Daytona, wasn't a great success. The engine gave out on lap two. In the summer
they made their last outing in the Chrysler LeBaron at MIS and achieved a 10th
place on June 17th 1995 in the Meijer All Sport 200.. It was Bob's last race
in the competition that made his name, and he brought the Lebaron home in 10th
place.
1997
win
Daily News interview cutting
The
formation of the SuperTruck Series was a huge deal and ARCA hero
Bob Keselowski was one its stars. With solid backing from Dodge
and Mopar, and with Winnabago as primary sponsor, this was an exciting
new development for the team. Mike Skinner, truck troubador, won
that inaugural race on February 5th for Richard Childress (he'd
go on to win the championship). K came home P22 in that first race.
Bob,driving the team’s #29 Winnebago Dodge Ram, started sixteen
races and finished in the top-ten four times, earning a fourteenth-place
points finish.
He dropped to sixteenth in the standings the next year (the first
with Craftsman Tools as sponsor) when he posted just one top-ten,
in a tough season.
Bob's roll at I-70 Speedway in Odessa - July 27 1996
Bob's win at
Richmond, 1997, with interview and Victory lane scenes
- ends his long losing streak. -
Overall,
the team competed in every season with the NASCAR Truck series
between 1995 and 2004 and accumulated totals of 1 win (Richmond
1997), and 15 career top-10 finishes in a highly competitive
series.
In
1997, K finished a career-best fourteenth in the standings and
won their first and only truck race at Richmond International Raceway
in the Mopar Dodge. It was a hard faught win; Bob led 82 of the
200 laps, and took home a career high purse of 34,175. Ken Shrader
and Mike Bliss had led for stretches of the race but Bob took home
a well earned victory.
During the 1998 season, in late June, Keselowski was injured .The
driver chosen to fill in for the next five races was Busch Grand
National regular Dennis Setzer, who quickly impressed. Over a span
of five races, Setzer had two eighth-place finishes. Bob Keselowski
returned and finished tenth at Heartland Park Topeka, while Dennis
took on some Winston Cup drives in Bill Elliott's #13 Ford. Bob
ran a series of races through August before handing the driving chores
back to Setzer for the rest of the season.
Setzer then won his first career race at Mesa Marin Raceway, in just
his second race back in the car, a race that brought in $33,555.
That kind of prize money talks.
In 1999, K created a second truck, the #1, for Setzer to drive while
Keselowski drove the #29 part-time, doing research and development
for Dodge.
Back in 1991, Bob and Ron were instrumental in bringing Chrysler back
to full-time stock car racing with their LeBaron, which won right out of the
box at the ARCA Pocono race. In 99 he finished 16th in the first of those
events at Homestead Motor Complex after an engine failure. K ran five
races and had a top-ten finish at Texas Motor Speedway before he retired. Setzer
won three times and lost the championship by 108 points. Bob's final race was
at California Speedway in October 99, where he parked the #29 RAM on lap 61.
Suspension.
A
long career had ended and a new era in K Automotive's long racing
history was about to begin. And the catalyst for the change was
their longtime partner, Dodge, led by their manager of NASCAR Operations
Bob Wildberger, and their primary sponsor MOPAR.
In October Dodge
had made an announcement that they were working on a NASCAR Winston
Cup car program. Wildburger and Dodge Motorsports were working
with Ray Evernham, Bill Davis and Chip Ganassi as development partners
to get Dodge Intrepids on the grid for the 2001 season. Although
K had a deal that lasted into the new millennium it turned out
that Dodge had other plans for K-Automotive.
2000s - Brian and Brad take it on.
Bob's
Dodge
Cumming
Racing - 1999
BOB
BIOGRAPHY
Robert Allen Keselowski (born August 1, 1951 in Rochester, Michigan)
Birthday: August 1, 1951
Hometown:Rochester Hills, Michigan
Height: 5'8"
Weight:170 lbs.
Family:Wife, Kay - Children, Ginger, Kathy, Dawn, Brian & Brad
- Grandchildren, Merrissa, Reanna, Kristina, Tristin & Garrett
Racing Experience: NASCAR Busch Grand National, ARCA, NASCAR Grand
American Series, USAC, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series |
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Richmond
International - Bob Keselowski won the Virginia Is For Lovers 200
Craftsman Truck race by a commanding 3+ seconds. It was his first
Craftsman Truck racing victory.
"I wouldn't even look up to see
them count the laps down, I didn't want to know. Boy, I needed
this one bad. We are just starting to get all the big haulers
and the shop and everything. I don't want to lose it now, it took
me 40-something years to get this point.''
This first
win came in Bob's 59th career truck start. |
