California Pre-Race Newsletter

Brad Keselowski Post-Race Notes & Quotes

SUBcrews.com Racing Ford F-150

California Speedway

American Racing Wheels 200

February 25, 2005

Started 31st  

Finished 31st  

WATER PUMP WOES SIDELINE KESELOWSKI EARLY IN CALIFORNIA

Brad Keselowski arrived at the California Speedway fresh off of a top ten finish at the Daytona International Speedway.  K Automotive Motorsports unloaded a brand new SUBcrews.com Ford for the event that had only been completed the week prior in a parking lot near Jacksonville , Florida .  While the team knew that all their extra work would pay off with a new truck that would handle well at California , they understood the risk they ran of not being able to shake down the truck until it arrived out west.    The two Thursday afternoon practice sessions unveiled a major vibration toward the rear of the truck.  After tightening, moving and re-working everything they could imagine prior to Friday morning’s qualifying effort, the team still could not find the source of the mysterious vibration. 

With a disappointing qualifying run of 31st position, the team prepared for the race with all the necessary components in their pit area needed to fix a rear-end, a gear or a driveshaft.  When the green flag waved, Keselowski quickly moved his No. 29 SUBcrews.com Ford from the 31st position into the 21st position. But as lap 20 neared Keselowski could feel that he was struggling with horsepower down the straight-aways, but was happy with the handling of his truck through the corners.  Then on lap 27, the 21-year old Keselowski was forced to pit as his truck was overheating.  The team pulled tape from the front, but was forced behind the wall only a few laps later as the belt from the water pump had broken. 

After a lengthy repair to the water pump, the team returned to the race track in order to pick up a position understanding the value of points even at only the second race of the season.  Keselowski would be forced to take a 31st place finish from California .

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Brad Keselowski Quotes:

Were you looking at the water pump as a possible cause for the vibration in practice and qualifying?

Not really, we had ruled out the engine because the vibration seemed to be focused on the rear of the truck so we were ready to make a quick gear change or driveshaft, but we were pretty shocked when it turned out to be the water pump.

What were your thoughts about the new truck and the speedway here in California ?

Actually I think we made the right call in bringing this truck to California even though we really had to thrash to get it ready.  The truck handled great and I think we were well-positioned for a solid run if we had not experienced the vibration from the moment we unloaded.  This was just one of those freak things that happens.  We are going to test at Atlanta this week with the same truck and get it shaken down a little more and help me learn the track prior to the race.  I really liked the California Speedway , it is a very smooth track and I think I could have easily secured a top-15 finish if we had not had the problem.

How does this affect your momentum for Atlanta after such a solid run at Daytona and then to have this issue take place at California ?

It really doesn’t change our outlook at all because this is all part of racing.  While we enjoyed the run at Daytona, we really didn’t have time to dwell on it because we had to get ready for California and now we have to get right down to Atlanta and test to prepare for the race in just a couple weeks.  We just focus on the big picture and that is consistency and solid efforts every week.

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