FORT WORTH, TX - APRIL 13: Crew members of the #2 Miller Lite Ford, driven by Brad Keselowski (not pictured) work on the rear end of the car as a NASCAR official watches in the garage prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 13, 2013 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images for Texs Motor Speedway)
Brad Keselowski is mad as hell and he’s not going to take it anymore.
Or so he said after Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Keselowski, the reigning Sprint Cup champion, went off on NASCAR big-time following the Texas race, which was won by Kyle Busch. Just before the 500-miler started, the crews of Keselowski and teammate Joey Logano both had to make last-minute rear-end housing changes after NASCAR inspectors allegedly found some funny business under their cars.
Logano’s car didn’t even make it onto the grid until after the engines were fired.
Although Logano went on to finish fifth and Keselowski ninth, the champ was outraged afterwards.
“I have one good thing to thing to say and that was my team and the effort they put in today in fighting back with the absolute (expletive) that's been the last seven days in this garage area,” Keselowski said. “The things I've seen over the last seven days have me questioning everything I believe in. I'm not happy about it. I don't have anything positive to say and I probably should just leave it at that.”
And that was just the start of Keselowski’s rage against the NASCAR machine.
“There's so much stuff going on you guys have no idea, you have no (expletive) idea what's going on,” Keselowski told reporters at Texas. “That's not your fault. I can tell you there's no team in this garage with the integrity of the 2 team. And the way we've been treated over the last seven days is absolutely shameful. I feel like we've been targeted over the last seven days more than I've seen a team targeted in my life.”
The problems for Keselowski started a week earlier at Martinsville Speedway, where his car was delayed getting through inspection and he had a questionable in-race pit penalty.
The worst is likely still to come.
On Monday or Tuesday, NASCAR is expected to rule on the legality or lack thereof of the two Penske Racing Fords. There could be monetary fines, points penalties and/or crew chief suspensions involved.
And for the second time this season, NASCAR might intercede with Keselowski and suggest he might choose his words more carefully in the future.
In, oh, roughly 100 percent of past cases throughout its history, NASCAR has prevailed over disgruntled drivers. Sometimes it takes a while, but the outcome is always the same: A driver fights the law and the law wins, at least in the end.
This story is just getting started, folks. Lots more to come in the days ahead.
