Brian Allen Keselowski (born September 2, 1981) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, team owner, crew chief, and spotter. He made headlines in 2011, qualifying his family-owned K-Automotive Motorsports entry into the Daytona 500.
Early life and family Born in Rochester Hills, Michigan in 1981, Brian Keselowski is the older brother of 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski, and the son and nephew of former drivers Bob and Ron Keselowski, respectively.
Keselowski graduated from Rochester High School in 1999, taking night classes to allow him to work as a jackman for the family racing team, K-Automotive Motorsports; he flew to the racetrack directly from his senior prom to assist in competition. He began his racing career competing in super late model events, winning rookie-of-the-year at Auto City Speedway in 2000.
Early career Keselowski made his stock car debut in the ARCA RE/MAX Series in 2004. He made six starts that season, driving the No. 29 Competition Graphics Dodge for Bob Ducharme. He had three top-tens, including a ninth-place run in his debut at Kentucky Speedway, and finished 34th in points. The next season, the team was purchased by his family, and he ran seven races including a string of five consecutive top-ten finishes. In 2006, Holloway Motorsports and Dusty's Collision became the sponsors of his car, and he won his first race at Berlin Raceway. Keselowski also made his NASCAR Busch Series (later renamed the NASCAR Nationwide Series) debut that year at Phoenix in the No. 23 Ridley Motorcycles Chevrolet for Keith Coleman Racing, starting and finishing in 43rd place. He had intended to compete at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, but was not approved to run at the track; his brother Brad drove the race instead, jump-starting his career.
In 2007, Keselowski ran a career-high twelve races in the ARCA RE/MAX Series, splitting time with his family team and the No. 5 Lucas Oil Pontiac for Bobby Gerhart. He won twice and finished 22nd in points. In the Busch Series, he made four starts in the Nos. 19 and 49, including his first top ten finish at Memphis Motorsports Park. The next season, he made 11 starts, beginning in the No. 28 Jay Robinson Racing Chevy for four races before moving to his family's No. 92, co-owned with Dusty Whitney, with a best finish of 15th at ORP, four spots ahead of his brother.
For 2009, Keselowski attempted his first full-time season for Whitney and K-Automotive Motorsports, which renumbered its car with the No. 26. The primary sponsor for Keselowski's car during the 2009 CarQuest Auto Parts 300 was the Detroit Red Wings National Hockey League team; Keselowski ran eighteen races, but stepped aside for twelve of the final fifteen events to act as crew chief while other drivers competed in the car. During the 2010 season, he qualified for 26 of 35 events; he finished eleventh in the season-opening event at Daytona, but had an average finish overall for the season of 34th.
2010–2012 During the 2010 season, Keselowski attempted to qualify for three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, starting with the August race at Bristol Motor Speedway, although he failed to qualify for any of these events. In early 2011, Keselowski declared his intention to compete for the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie Of The Year title; he was the only driver to do so as of the start of Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway, however Andy Lally stated his intention to run for the award while Speedweeks was underway. The decision to move up to the Cup Series was made on economic grounds; the costs of competing in the Nationwide Series were deemed to be comparable to a Sprint Cup effort.
In qualifying for the 2011 Daytona 500, Keselowski posted the slowest time of the 48 cars that attempted to qualify, requiring that he finish in the top two of non-qualified cars in the second Gatorade Duel to secure a position in the race. With a little help from brother Brad, Keselowski finished fifth in the second Gatorade Duel and started twelfth in the 2011 Daytona 500.
Shortly after Keselowski's surprise finish in the Duels, he received help from a number of sources, including tires from Evernham Motorsports and a Dodge R6 engine from Penske Racing. The engine Penske offered could not be fitted into the car in time. In addition, the K-Automotive Motorsports team received sponsorship from Discount Tire. Keselowski ran as high as fourth, but was involved in a wreck on lap 29, finishing 41st. Keselowski failed to qualify for the next two races.
In March 2011, Keselowski had severe abdominal pain and needed gallbladder surgery; Dennis Setzer filled in for races at Bristol, where he finished 38th, and Martinsville, where the team withdrew after a practice crash. Keselowski returned to the No. 92 team for races at Richmond and Darlington in May, but failed to qualify for either race. Following further time off for reevaluation of his underfunded race team, K-Automotive switched to Chevrolet for Michigan and received a one-race sponsorship deal with Melling Auto Parts, but failed to qualify for the race; Setzer attempted to qualify at New Hampshire and the fall Martinsville race but failed to qualify. Scott Riggs also attempted Homestead but did not qualify as well.
For 2012, the team competed in two events in the ARCA Racing Series; teaming with Sinica Motorsports to field the No. 94 for Keselowski in the ARCA event at Mobile International Speedway, and also competing at Berlin Raceway, where Keselowski posted his best finish of the season, 23rd.
2013
In 2013, Keselowski announced his intention to compete in the Daytona 500 with Hamilton Means Racing. Keselowski did not have a great qualifying run, which made him start poorly in the Budweiser Duel. Keselowski started the Budweiser Duel 23rd, but failed to make the race, with a finish in the Duel of 21st. He returned to the Sprint Cup Series at Richmond at the end of April. He started the Sprint Showdown on May 18, qualifying 23rd and finishing nineteenth (four laps down) in a field of 23 cars. Keselowski returned to the driver's seat at Watkins Glen where he finished 39th.
2014 In January 2014, Keselowski announced that he would be returning to running the No. 92 for his own team, Brian Keselowski Motorsports in the 2014 season, running a Ford Fusion. Ultimately, though, the team never attempted a race.
2015 On October 15, 2015, Keselowski's brother Brad announced that Brian would drive the No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing in the Camping World Truck Series at Talladega Superspeedway as a replacement driver for Austin Theriault, who had been injured earlier in the season. He ran up front for a portion of the race and led ten laps but would ultimately finish seventeenth after running out of fuel during a green-white-checkered finish.
Crew chiefing After stepping away from the drivers seat, Keselowski began to work as a crew chief, working with Stefan Parsons in the late model racing ranks in 2016 before eventually joining NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team Premium Motorsports to work on the organization's No. 49 entry. Keselowski and several other employees were dismissed from Premium when they refused to work on NY Racing Team equipment in the Premium shop in May 2018. Later that year, he joined NASCAR Xfinity Series team MBM Motorsports to become Chad Finchum's crew chief. After approximately a year with MBM, Keselowski left the team.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts Ref 2010 K-Automotive Motorsports 92 Dodge DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR PHO TEX TAL RCH DAR DOV CLT POC MCH SON NHA DAY CHI IND POC GLN MCH BRIDNQ ATL RCHDNQ NHA DOV KAN CAL CLT MAR TAL TEXDNQ PHO HOM 83rd 0 2011 DAY41 PHODNQ LVSDNQ BRI CAL MAR TEX TAL RCHDNQ DARDNQ DOV CLT KAN POC 50th 3 Chevy MCHDNQ SON DAY KEN NHA IND POC GLN MCH BRI ATL RCH CHI NHA DOV KAN CLT TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 2013 Hamilton Means Racing 52 Toyota DAYDNQ PHO LVS BRI CAL MAR TEX KAN 49th 9 Brian Keselowski Motorsports RCH40 TAL DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON KEN DAY NHA IND POC GLN39 MCH BRI ATL RCH CHI NHA DOV KAN CLT TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM
Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 2011 K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge 12 41 2013 Hamilton Means Racing Toyota DNQ
Nationwide Series NASCAR Nationwide Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Pts Ref 2006 Keith Coleman Racing 23 Chevy DAY CAL MXC LVS ATL BRI TEX NSH PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA MAR GTY IRP GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM TEX PHO43 HOM 151st 34 2007 Whitney Motorsports 19 Dodge DAY CAL MXC LVS ATL BRI NSH TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW NHA DAY CHI GTY IRP23 CGV GLN 79th 422 49 MCH33 BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM10 TEX PHO HOM11 2008 Jay Robinson Racing 28 Chevy DAY CAL33 LVS42 ATL31 BRI31 NSH TEX PHO MXC TAL 53rd 776 K-Automotive Motorsports 92 Dodge RCH30 DAR CLT DOV NSHDNQ KEN35 MLW27 NHA DAY CHIDNQ GTY40 IRP15 CGV GLN MCH24 BRIDNQ CAL RCH DOV KANDNQ CLT MEM31 TEX PHO HOM 2009 26 DAY25 CAL29 LVS19 BRIDNQ TEXDNQ PHO27 TAL14 RCH21 DAR24 CLT30 DOV16 NSH30 KEN35 MLW31 NHA34 DAYDNQ GTY20 IRPDNQ IOW GLN MCH BRI CGV42 ATL33 RCH DOV KAN CAL CLT 37th 1412 96 TEX38 NSH41 CHIDNQ MEMQL† TEX PHO HOMDNQ 2010 K Automotive Racing 26 DAY11 CAL34 LVS32 BRI39 NSH24 PHO20 TEX36 TAL33 DAR24 DOVDNQ CLTDNQ NSH37 KENDNQ ROA40 NHA39 DAY CHIDNQ GTY38 IRP34 IOW33 GLN27 MCH38 BRI CGV ATL31 RCH DOV41 KAN42 CAL40 CLT GTY41 TEXDNQ PHO34 31st 1566 92 RCH43 DOV42 HOM34 2011 Key Motorsports 47 Chevy DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX TAL NSH RCH DAR DOV IOW CLT CHI MCH ROA DAY KEN NHA NSH IRP IOW42 GLNDNQ CGV BRI42 ATLDNQ RCH43 CHIDNQ DOV KAN CLT TEX PHO HOM 112th 01 † - Qualified for Michael McDowell
Camping World Truck Series NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Pts Ref 2015 Brad Keselowski Racing 29 Ford DAY ATL MAR KAN CLT DOV TEX GTW IOW KEN ELD POC MCH BRI MSP CHI NHA LVS TAL17 MAR TEX PHO HOM 63rd 28
ARCA Racing Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) ARCA Racing Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Pts Ref 2004 Bob Ducharme Racing 29 Dodge DAY NSH SLM KEN9 TOL CLT38 KAN POC MCH SBO BLN KEN18 GTW25 POC LER NSH10 ISF TOL8 DSF CHI SLM TAL 34th 840 2005 K Automotive Racing Ford DAYDNQ NSH SLM KEN MCH17 KAN KEN7 MCH7 ISF SLM29 TAL 34th 1250 Dodge TOLDNQ LAN MIL POC BLN9 POC GTW LER7 NSH TOL7 DSF CHI 2006 Ford DAY NSH SLM31 WIN KEN MCH11 KAN KEN GTW27 NSH MCH4 ISF MIL7 TOL5* DSF CHI SLM TAL IOW10 29th 1260 Dodge TOL4 POC BLN1 POC 2007 Ford DAYDNQ 22nd 2020 Dodge USA5 NSH SLM1* KAN WIN2 KEN TOL6 IOW POC MCH10 BLN1 KEN POC TOL31 Gerhart Racing 5 Chevy NSH5 ISF MIL22 GTW18 DSF CHI40 SLM25* TAL 2012 Sinica Motorsports 94 Chevy DAY MOB24 SLM TAL TOL ELK POC MCH WIN NJE IOW CHI IRP POC 85th 225 Brian Keselowski Motorsports 29 Dodge BLN23 ISF MAD SLM DSF KAN 2015 Brian Keselowski Motorsports 29 Ford DAY MOB NSH SLM TAL TOL NJE POC MCH CHI WIN IOW IRP13 POC BLN4 ISF DSF SLM6 KEN KAN 40th 575 2016 Keselowski-Gerhart Racing 5 Ford DAY NSH28 SLM10 TAL TOL9 NJE POC MCH MAD WIN IOW IRP POC BLN ISF DSF SLM CHI KEN KAN 51st 460
Season still in progress Ineligible for series points
References
External links