Brian and the K crew went for it all in the run up to the Daytona weekend. They took a cup car - a proven Dodge chassis that once entered Victory Lane at Lowe's in '08 - and pushed into superspeedway / restrictor plate territory. At the wheel, Mike Wallace, as K Automotive made its first attempt to start a Cup Series race for thirty years. It was a bridge too far, but worth the effort.

The real beef was K's entry of three cars into the Nationwide Series opener, with Brian driving his own 26 car, supported by Johnny Chapman and Dennis Setzer aiming to qualify the 92 and 96 cars too. Trouble was, no -one had counted on the Florida weather: The arbitary way NASCAR chose to fill out the field after the rain washed out Friday's qualifying left some teams scratching their heads and some, like K-Automotive and Mears Racing, pretty sore.

The rules were vague, and it became clear that the race lineup would be effectively a lottery. Thirtyfive entries locked in by owner points (even though some of the richer owners had bought those points from defunt 2009 teams) leaving just a few places to be settled on time.

The rain changed all that. Team Keselowski's three entries were suddenly reduced to one, and the hard work was looking wasted. Dennis and Johnny saty it out, but then Brian got busy once the race started.

In the Nationwide Drive4COPD 300 Brian had a worrying strat, almost taken out by an early race incident. But it didn't slow his progress. Mid-race he found himself conserving tires and riding alongside the new darling of NASCAR, Danica Patrick, who was making her first start at NNNS level.

And then the race got serious - and Brian found enough pace to ride along with the leading pack into the home stretch of an eventful race. Final position 11th. A nice end to the toughest of weeks.

In order to make it to the top, you have to be where the action is. That’s the case in any industry, and in the case of NASCAR you have to be in North Carolina. That’s why the Michigan-based K Automotive Racing team has decided to head down South for the 2010 racing season, in hopes that the move will help grow the small family-run team into a Nationwide series contender. MORE

ìI really cannot believe that they look you in the eyes and tell you that the reason youíre not in this race, after you spent every single dime you possibly could, is because somebody drew a number.

It completely eliminates the legitimacy of what weíre doing. I just canít believe we donít even get a chance. Everyone should have an [equal] shot to make the race.î

BRIAN KESELOWSKI, to Tom Bowles of Frontstretch this week.

Interview with Brian K in the Oakland Press: “"There's room for me right now in Nationwide,” he said. “"A guy like me without a lot of money can still succeed and make a living. That's all I do —- racing. I don't have my hands in anything else.

I resign myself to the fact that that stuff isn't going to happen right now. So the only way is to race for myself."” http://tinyurl.com/yevsh3w

2009 Kay Keselowski Interview http://tinyurl.com/yaqvj3k