Nigel Kinrade/Motorsport Images
Keselowski feeling ready to make a move on Atlanta high banks
The configuration of Atlanta Motor Speedway doesn’t matter to Brad Keselowski because success has been a constant.
Keselowski led the spring race at Atlanta on the final lap last year in one of the strongest showings of the season for the No. 6 RFK Racing team, even though he ended up bested by former teammate Joey Logano and finished second. The performance, however, gives Keselowski and his group a good notebook for approaching Sunday’s race (3pm ET, Fox).
“I like the track,” Keselowski said. “I feel good here. I feel like we understand what we need out of our car and yeah, I feel like we can win come Sunday. It’s a good track for us, but nothing is given to you -- you have to go earn it. Just because you ran well last year, everybody is working on their stuff in order to get better, so I don’t take it for granted. I do feel like it’s a track that, even before it was reconfigured, suited me well and continues to do so.”
The former Cup Series champion hasn’t won yet driving the car he owns. Keselowski became a co-owner of RFK Racing in 2022, and his last Cup Series victory was in the spring of 2021 while driving for Team Penske (Talladega Superspeedway).
Sunday will be Keselowski’s 100th start since that victory. It’s not a streak – or drought – he’s concerned about.
“I’m not paying any attention to it, honestly,” Keselowski said. “What matters to me is I would rather be fast every week and contending for wins than fall...into a race win and say, ‘Oh streak’s over.’ I want to be fast. I want to be contending and in the hunt.
“We did that last week and I’m proud of that, and I think we have a good shot to do that this week. That’s what matters to me.”
It’s the longest stretch Keselowski has gone without a victory in his Cup Series career. He scored at least one win each season from 2011 through 2021.
“I never was not hungry,” Keselowski said of getting back to victory lane. “I don’t know how to get any hungrier.”
A breakthrough win wouldn’t come as a surprise at Atlanta. Whereas a year ago, Atlanta and other superspeedway racetracks were opportunity races for the team, their progression has made them weekly contenders.
“I do feel that we can win anywhere,” Keselowski said. “I would have liked to have more speed in qualifying than what we showed, but I feel confident that we’ve got a lot of great pieces, a lot of maturity in our team, and I could see us winning tomorrow and being a threat all day long.”
Keselowski qualified 24th for the Ambetter 400.
Kelly Crandall
Kelly has been on the NASCAR beat full-time since 2013, and joined RACER as chief NASCAR writer in 2017. Her work has also appeared in NASCAR.com, the NASCAR Illustrated magazine, and NBC Sports. A corporate communications graduate from Central Penn College, Crandall is a two-time George Cunningham Writer of the Year recipient from the National Motorsports Press Association.
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