Share this:

" />

Brad Keselowski critical of current MENCS car following crash at Kentucky

by Mike Haag | Posted on Saturday, July 8th, 2017

Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Ford, stands in the garage during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway on July 7, 2017 in Sparta, Kentucky. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)

SPARTA, Kentucky – Brad Keselowski sounded off about the current Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stock car after wrecking his car on the restart following the break between Stages 1 and 2 at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night.

The wreck also collected Jimmie Johnson and both drivers suffered damage to their cars to the extent that they could not continue racing in the Quaker State 400.

Here’s what Brad had to say after the race.

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion: Accident on Lap 87

WHAT HAPPENED? “I just got in an aero wake and it pulled me around. I knew I was in a bad spot. I was trying to lay up but there is only so much you can lay up here because you get ran over from behind. The air pulled me around. It sucks. I feel bad for everyone on the Miller Lite Ford team and I think I tore up two or three other guys and that sucks for them. I don’t know. It is kind of a tough spot to be in on these tracks where they are kind of one groove. You can’t just lay up every time. You give up too many spots or get ran over from behind. If you drive in with someone close to you the car just spins out. It just sucks but it is what it is. We have to find a way around it and we didn’t today.”

Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Ford. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

“I just wrecked it. It stinks. I got loose into three. I was underneath the 14. I was trying to lay up and give room but just spun out as soon as I got anywhere near the corner. I wrecked myself and a bunch of other guys. It is part of it I guess, but not a part that you have to like. It is part of the deal when you race at these types of tracks where it is one groove with this car and the way it is designed. You have to find a way around it and I didn’t find a way around it.”

YOU SEEM VERY FRUSTRATED: “It is frustrating. We weren’t as fast as we wanted to be today. That is always frustrating. I am probably as much frustrated with myself as I am frustrated with the situation and frustrated with the sport that we can’t design a better car than this that you can race without having to do everything on the restart. That is all part of it I guess. It is where we are right now.”

YOU SAID ONE GROOVE, DID THE TIRE DRAGON HELP AT ALL? “They made a good effort. It was better than nothing but there are limitations. The way this car is, it needs a lot more help than a Tire Dragon. It is a poorly designed race car and it makes racing on tracks like this very difficult to put on the show we want to put on for our fans. You do what you can to gouge and claw on the restarts and get everything you can get. You have to put yourself in bad situations to do that and that is where we were. If you don’t make those moves on the restarts, then you run in the back. Or you have a bad day. The scenario that the car design, more than the track.”

WHAT WOULD YOU SUGGEST? “It is time for the sport to design a new car that is worthy of where this sport deserves to be and the show it deserves to put on for its fans.”

Quotes provided courtesy of Ford Performance Racing

About the Author

Mike Haag has covered motorsports in San Antonio and South Texas for more than 35 years. In addition to covering motorsports for the San Antonio Express-News for nearly 28 years, Mike also has co-hosted TrackSmack with Dawn Murphy for 18 race seasons. In addition to being a writer, Mike taught high school English and Journalism for 30 years before retiring in May, 2020.