Daytona International Speedway, 2005
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Brad Keselowski Post-Race Notes & Quotes
SUBcrews.com Racing Ford F-150
Daytona International Speedway
Florida Dodge Dealers 250
February 18, 2005
Started 13th
Finished 7th
KESELOWSKI CONTINUES K-AUTOMOTIVE TOP TEN TRADITION AT DAYTONA WITH SEVENTH PLACE FINISH
Brad Keselowski accomplished a very impressive feet in his career-first start at the Daytona International Speedway tonight in the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 by earning a seventh place finish in his No. 29 SUBcrews.com Ford F-150. K Automotive Motorsports had finished in the top ten at every NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona and the youngest Keselowski was able to continue that streak tonight with his seventh place finish. Keselowski’s goals for the event were to keep the truck in one piece and try to avoid the inevitable ‘big one’. While the 21 year-old was able to bring the truck back to his team in one piece, it was rather crumpled due to a final lap accident that took place as the field entered turn one after taking the white flag. Keselowski entered the turn in the 12th position and after making contact with a spinning Matt Crafton, Keselowski brought an injured No. 29 back around to the checkered flag in the seventh position.
Keselowski took the green flag in the 13th position, but quickly moved to the back of the pack to allow the trucks to sort themselves out during the early stages. Once Keselowski found a comfortable line on the track he was able to begin running some of the fastest laps of the evening and catch the lead draft pack. By lap 30 Keselowski had moved into the 15th position when several of the lead trucks made the decision to pit for tires under the green flag. Keselowski remained on the race track and moved into the second position. A well-timed caution flag would fall for the SUBcrews.com Ford allowing them to come to pit road for a four-tire pit stop. During the caution period, Keselowski noticed a strange noise in the transmission when he attempted to use third gear. It was quickly determined that third gear was gone making restarts and pit stops challenging for the young driver for the remainder of the evening.
Keselowski managed to avoid the large accidents for much of the evening as well as stay with the lead draft of trucks to earn his career-best NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series finish.
Did you expect to earn a top-ten finish in your first career start at Daytona?
It was definitely a goal to finish in the top ten, but with the wild races here at Daytona there is never any way to tell how everything will finish. Our SUBcrews.com Ford was really strong all night and we were able to run by ourselves and catch the lead draft of trucks after we struggled with transmission problems. It means a lot to me to be able to continue the streak of top ten finishes for our team here at Daytona and this was a great way to start the 2005 season and start the relationship with our new sponsor, SUBcrews.com.
What happened at the end of the race when you were involved with the accident in turn one?
I knew that it was going to get pretty wild with the green-white-checker situation, but I also knew that we had a top ten truck and I had to use it at the end. I was just right there when everybody started spinning. I went low to miss the other trucks and the No. 88 truck came right across in front of me and I couldn’t miss him. I tore up the front of the truck pretty bad. The hood was bent up and the radiator was busted, couldn’t see anything and everyone was on the radio telling me to keep going because they were going to throw the checkered flag and we could still get a good finish. So they talked me around to the checkered flag with a pretty beat up race truck. Our team worked so hard to get here that is was just awesome to bring a top ten finish home.
What kind of momentum does this give you for the 2005 season?
I don’t think I even know at this point how great this run really was for us. Of course I hate the fact that our truck is torn up, but the radiator is the worst part and the rest is more or less cosmetic. But to get my career-best NCTS finish in the first race of 2005 at Daytona is big and I think it gives me that much more confidence heading to California next week. One of most important things that I think I gained tonight was respect on the race track from some of my fellow competitors. This is just a great start to this season and hopefully things just keep getting better.
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Brad Keselowski Qualifying Notes & Quotes
SUBcrews.com Racing Ford F-150
Daytona International Speedway
Florida Dodge Dealers 250
February 17, 2005
Starting 13th
Qualifying Lap 49.990 seconds
KESELOWSKI QUALIFIES 13TH FOR CAREER-FIRST START AT DAYTONA
Brad Keselowski qualified 13th for tomorrow night’s running of the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 at the Daytona International Speedway in his family-owned, SUBcrews.com Ford. Keselowski, who recently turned 21 years-old, will make his first career start on the historic superspeedway, but several test sessions and a strong race truck have given him plenty of confidence heading into the event.
How was your qualifying lap? Was it what you were expecting?
"This was a really great lap for us. I knew we were going to be strong enough to get a top-15, but I don’t know that a lot of people really expected me to be able to pull it off. But I was able to run the high line around the track on my first lap and that seemed to really help the time and speed for the second lap. This is just what our entire team needed to start this 2005 season. I think our new sponsor, SUBcrews.com, is pretty happy with our qualifying effort and now I am looking to back that up tomorrow night with a top ten in the race."
What will be your strategy for the race tomorrow starting toward the front of the field?
"I think my strategy for the entire day will be to avoid the wreck that I’m sure will happen at some point. I just really want to run a consistent race and stay out of trouble for most of the event in order to be in a position at the end of the race for a top finish. The truck that we brought for this race is ‘two-dog’ and I know we will be pretty strong in the draft so staying out of trouble will probably be the key to success here tomorrow."
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