Bradley Aaron "Brad" Keselowski (born February 12, 1984) is an American racecar driver. He drives the No. 2 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, and drives the No. 22 Mustang for Team Penske in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He used to be a driver for JR Motorsports, a team owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. from 2007 to 2009 in the Nationwide series. He also used to drive for Phoenix Racing and Hendrick Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series. Keselowski is the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide series champion, and the 2012 Sprint Cup series champion.[1]
NASCAR career
Keselowski started racing in NASCAR in 2004 in the Craftsman Truck Series. He drove a few races the #29 for K Automotive Racing team. His first race was at Martinsville Speedway. He started 26th and finished the race in 33rd. His best finish of his first year was at the Mansfield Motorsports Speedway where he finished 16th.
In 2005, Keselowski raced the full season in the Craftsman Truck Series. He finished the season 21st in points. Keselowski raced the first two races of the 2006 season, but his race team could not afford to keep racing.[2]
In 2007, Keselowski started racing in the Busch series. After driving for a few teams, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. called Keselowski asking him to drive his #88 United States Navy Chevrolet for JR Motorsports for the rest of the year.
Keselowski raced with JR Motorsports in 2008, and got his first win came June 7, 2008 at Nashville Superspeedway. He finished the season third in the points. Keselowski made his first start in the Sprint Cup Series.He finished the race in the 19th position. He also raced the final race of the season at Homestead Miami Speedway, finishing 23rd.
Keselowski drove the #88 for JR Motorsports again in 2009. He also raced a few races in the Sprint Cup Series. Keselowki got his first Sprint Cup Series win driving the #09 for Phoenix Racing at Talledega Superspeedway.
Keselowski left JR Motorsports and Phoenix Racing after the 2009 season to drive the full season for the #12 Dodge in the Sprint Cup Series and the #29 Dodge in the Nationwide series for Penske Racing in 2010.
In 2011, Brad drove the #2 Miller Lite Dodge after teammate Kurt Busch and team owner Roger Penske agreed to move Busch to the number #22 car.[3] Keselowski won three races in 2011, and finished the season 5th in points.[4]
In 2012 Keselowski drove his Miller Lite Dodge to 5 wins, as well as racing in a short schedule in the Nationwide series. At the end of the year, Brad was able to beat Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer to win his first Sprint Cup Championship. This championship was also the first Sprint Cup championship for the owner of Keselowski's car, Roger Penske.[5]
References