With Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, a NASCAR veteran will reach a prestigious milestone seldom achieved. For the 600th time in his career, Brad Keselowski will roll off the grid in a Cup Series race.
In the 599 starts that have brought Keselowski to this day, he’s driven for four teams (winning with three), earned a Cup championship, and taken the leap into team ownership. His debut came almost 18 years ago, when he was a highly-touted young prospect with Hendrick Motorsports. Now, Keselowski is one of the elder statesman of NASCAR racing.
“I just wanted to have a career and was trying to prove myself,” Keselowski said. “To think that I’ve had another 599 since then is pretty cool. I just want to sit down with a 24-year-old me and tell him that was going to happen.”
At 42 years old, Brad Keselowski is still as potent a competitor as ever. Coming off a second-place finish at Darlington Raceway, the Michigan native is currently tied for eighth in the series standings. At Martinsville, a track where Keselowski has won twice before, he has the opportunity to reinforce his campaign for a second title.
“I’d like to get to eight hundred,” Keselowski continued. “I think that’s a good goal.”
Now, approaching a milestone only 34 drivers have reached before, a retrospective is in order for an esteemed career that will one day be commemorated in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. What follows are ten races which tell the (very abbreviated) story of Brad Keselowski’s career to date.
Start No. 1: 2008 Dickies 500, Texas Motor Speedway (Nov 2, 2008)
NASCAR Cup Series Debut
Brad Keselowski made his first NASCAR Cup Series start on November 2, 2008. He drove the No. 25 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in the 2008 Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The race was unremarkable; Keselowski qualified 37th and rallied to a 19th-place finish, two laps off the pace. Carl Edwards won the race, his eighth of nine wins in the 2008 Cup Series season.
Start No. 5: Aaron’s 499, Talladega Superspeedway (Apr 26, 2009)
First NASCAR Cup Series Win
In just his fifth Cup Series start, Brad Keselowski shocked the NASCAR world with an upset win at Talladega Superspeedway. He drove the No. 09 Miccosukee Resorts & Gaming Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing, an affiliate of Hendrick Motorsports. Fresh off the controversy of Regan Smith’s penalty at the end of the previous Talladega race, Keselowski refused to be pushed below the double yellow line by Carl Edwards coming to the finish. The two cars made contact, and the rest was history. 25-year-old Keselowski’s win was just as stunning as what followed: Edwards’ No. 99 Ford spun wildly through midair into the Frontstretch catchfence. The incident marked the first chapter in a long, bitter rivalry between Edwards and Keselowski.
Start No. 15: Dickies 500, Texas Motor Speedway (Nov 8, 2009)
First Start with Team Penske
In spite of his Talladega win, Keselowski found himself out of a seat in the Hendrick Motorsports organization before 2009 concluded. He turned his sights to Penske Racing (now Team Penske), and the No. 12 Dodge. Keselowski finished 35th while his teammate, Kurt Busch, won the race.
Start No. 74: Good Sam RV Insurance 500, Pocono Raceway (Aug 7, 2011)
Winning with a Broken Ankle
Brad Keselowski had already snagged his first Penske win earlier in 2011, proving his Talladega victory wasn’t a fluke. His season was thrown a sudden curveball in August, when he crashed violently during a test session at Road Atlanta. He sustained a broken ankle. Less than one week later at Pocono Raceway, against all odds, Keselowski held off Kyle Busch for the win. Not only was it a gritty and tenacious comeback, but the win substantially boosted the No. 2 team’s chances of making the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The racing world may have already known Keselowski was a race winner, but Pocono 2011 proved he was cut from a different cloth.
Start No. 125: Ford EcoBoost 400, Homstead-Miami Speedway (Nov 18, 2012)
First NASCAR Cup Series Championship
In Brad Keselowski’s rookie season, he was a non-factor. In his sophomore year, he was a surprising new Chase contender. In his third, he became a NASCAR champion. Due to a blown tire the previous week at Phoenix Raceway, Jimmie Johnson had a tough task if he wanted to catch Keselowski in points at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Keselowski’s race was just good enough; he finished 15th and gave legendary team owner Roger Penske his first ever Cup Series championship. As memorable as that was, perhaps the most iconic moment of the night was Keselowski’s inebriated SportsCenter interview from Victory Lane.
Start No. 330: Bojangles’ Southern 500, Darlington Raceway (Sept 2, 2018)
First Southern 500 Win
For the first decade of his career, Brad Keselowski was eluded by NASCAR’s crown jewel races. That all changed in the 2018 Southern 500, when he led a Team Penske 1-2 finish at the legendary Darlington Raceway. Keselowski sported a throwback to Rusty Wallace’s 1990 Miller Genuine Draft Pontiac. That race also marked the first of three consecutive wins for Keselowski, a feat that had only happened six times prior in the 21st century. Speaking of which…
Start No. 331: Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard, Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Sept 10, 2018)
First Brickyard 400 Win
The week after his Southern 500 win, Brad Keselowski crossed off yet another crown jewel NASCAR victory. With two laps to go in the 2018 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Keselowski made contact with Denny Hamlin to take away the lead. Roger Penske has a staggering 20 victories in the Indianapolis 500, but until Keselowski’s 2018 win, he’d never taken home the checkered flag in NASCAR’s marquee Indy race.
Start No. 384: Coca-Cola 600, Charlotte Motor Speedway (May 24, 2020)
First Coca-Cola 600 Win
The third of Brad Keselowski’s crown jewel wins came at Charlotte Motor Speedway, when he took home the victory in the Coca-Cola 600. Thanks to an overtime restart that pushed the distance to 607.5 miles, the 2020 edition of this event was the longest race distance in NASCAR history. Restarting alongside Jimmie Johnson, Keselowski received a crucial push from Alex Bowman to propel him out to lead. Though there was no crowd in attendance amid the 2020 pandemic, Keselowski delivered a fan-favorite win in his patriotic No. 2 Miller Lite paint scheme.
Start No. 450: 2022 Daytona 500, Daytona International Speedway (Feb 20, 2022)
First Race as a Driver-Owner
Brad Keselowski himself would certainly prefer a Daytona 500 victory to be on this list if any Daytona race has to be. Until he gets one, the most significant race of his career at Daytona International Speedway was his first as a driver-owner. Keselowski departed Team Penske over the off-season, purchasing an ownership stake in Roush Fenway Racing to turn it into RFK Racing. He started the year off strong by sweeping the Duel races with teammate Chris Buescher, and then led a race-high 67 laps in the 2022 Daytona 500. Despite all this, Keselowski was forced to settle for a ninth-place finish while Austin Cindric – taking over for Keselowski in the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford – won the Great American Race.
Start No. 534: Goodyear 400, Darlington Raceway (May 12, 2024)
First Win with RFK Racing
Statistically, Brad Keselowski should have more wins with RFK Racing than he does. The one he does have, however, is one to remember. Keselowski’s No. 6 Castrol Ford was decorated to honor the Castrol Tachi Oiwa Motor Sports Toyota Supra from the 1995 season of Japan’s Super GT Series. Initially Keselowski’s teammate Chris Buescher appeared poised to win, before contact with Tyler Reddick took both cars out of contention. Keselowski rallied from third place to snap a career-high 110-race winless streak.
“What a heck of a day,” Keselowski said. “It’s Darlington, so whether it’s your first win, your last win, this is a really special track.
