NASCAR’s Brad Keselowski has had quite the rise over his first nine Sprint Cup Series seasons. The driver of the #2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion for Team Penske has proven to be a worthy adversary to his fellow racing competitors. Keselowski has driven his race car to Victory Lane on 18 different occasions and has recorded 60 top fives and 106 top 10s. All the hard work over the years paid off in spades in 2012 when the aggressive racer drove his way to his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship. Since that crowning achievement, Keselowski has finished outside of the top 10 in points once in 2013.
Brad Keselowski was born in Rochester Hills, Michigan, on February 12, 1984. Growing up in a racing family, the youngster worked in his father’s race shop throughout his early years. Racing cars was in his blood from the beginning. His father, Bob Keselowski, raced in the Camping World Truck Series in the late 90s and his uncle Ron Keselowski competed in the Sprint Cup Series in the 1970s. It didn’t take long for the passion of the sport to work its way down to Brad.
At the age of 14, he started competing in the Honda 120 Quarter Midget Division. That year he won six races that he participated in. The next year, Keselowski moved up to the Honda 160 Midget Division and collected another eight wins and a championship. It was clear that the prodigy had picked up on a few things turning wrenches for family owned K Automotive Racing.
By 2000 the up-and-coming talent drove in the Stock Car division. Just like the previous divisions that Keselowski competed in before, he quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with by collecting nine victories and Rookie of the Year honors. Over the next three years the speedster balanced his time on the track with his job for his family’s Camping World Truck Series operation. Over that time he raced in the Super Late Model Division and continued to pile up the victories.
In 2004, it was time for Brad to drive for the family-owned truck in the Camping World Truck Series. He raced eight races that year and was put on full time for the next season. In 2005, Keselowski raced through the whole schedule and had 7th place finish at Daytona International Speedway. By 2006 the Michigan native was participating in the Camping World Truck races and the Xfinity Series as a part timer.
The door really opened for the future Sprint Cup champion in 2007. Racing in the truck series he had an impressive race at Memphis Motorsports Park. Keselowski won the pole position in that race and led 69 laps before being spun out by Travis Kvapil with ten laps to go. His calm and restrained demeanor after the cheap tactics imposed upon him by Kvapil caught the eye of Dale Earnhardt Jr. A year later JR Motorsports hired him to drive the #88 car full time in the Xfinity Series.
After recording five top 10’s and eight top 15’s in the JR Motorsports Chevrolet in 2007, the next year would be his best. Brad Keselowski raced to his first two Xfinity victories at Bristol Raceway in Tennessee and again at Nashville Speedway. The Rookie finished third in points that year and cemented his path to the big leagues.
2009 was a year to remember for the Rookie Sprint Cup driver. Not only did he collect four victories and two poles in the Xfinity Series but raced to his first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory at the 2.5 mile oval of Talladega Super Speedway. Team Penske was impressed with Keselowski and signed the driver to a long term deal to close out the year. The rest as they say, is history.
In 2010, the newly signed Penske driver did something no other driver had done in racing history — he won a championship for the legendary Roger Penske in the Xfinity Series. In 2011, Brad Keselowski was rewarded by becoming the driver of the famed #2 Miller Lite that Rusty Wallace made so famous. That year he qualified for his first Chase placement and finished in the top five in points.
All of Brad Keselowski’s dreams came true in 2012. The competitor racked up five victories at Bristol, Talladega and Kentucky and two victories during the Chase for the Sprint Cup at Chicagoland Speedway and Dover Sports Park. Keselowski also had career bests with 13 top fives, 23 top 10 finishes and led 735 total laps. Those numbers were a record for the “Blue Deuce.”
NASCAR Sprint Cup Career Statistics:
| Year | Age | Races | Win | T5 | T10 | Pole | Laps | Led | Earnings | Rank | AvSt | AvFn | RAF | LLF | DNQ | WD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 24 | 2 of 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 598 | 0 | 166,850 | 57 | 34.0 | 21.0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2009 | 25 | 15 of 36 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3942 | 9 | 1,732,854 | 38 | 23.3 | 21.5 | 14 | 9 | 2 | 0 |
| 2010 | 26 | 36 of 36 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 10410 | 41 | 4,350,411 | 25 | 23.0 | 22.4 | 31 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011 | 27 | 36 of 36 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 1 | 10507 | 298 | 6,503,444 | 5 | 14.4 | 14.8 | 35 | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | 28 | 36 of 36 | 5 | 13 | 23 | 0 | 10328 | 735 | 12,106,255 | 1 | 16.2 | 10.1 | 35 | 29 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013 | 29 | 36 of 36 | 1 | 9 | 16 | 1 | 10253 | 476 | 6,993,130 | 14 | 11.8 | 14.9 | 34 | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | 30 | 36 of 36 | 6 | 17 | 20 | 5 | 10362 | 1540 | 9,128,643 | 5 | 7.4 | 12.6 | 35 | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | 31 | 36 of 36 | 1 | 9 | 25 | 3 | 10347 | 1185 | 7,477,096 | 7 | 10.0 | 11.1 | 35 | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | 32 | 3 of 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 797 | 25 | 0 | 6 | 15.3 | 10.0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 years | 236 | 18 | 60 | 106 | 11 | 67544 | 4309 | 48,458,683 | 14.6 | 14.8 | 224 | 166 | 3 | 0 | ||
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