Keselowski opens up on rivalry with Kyle Busch, hopes to become closer
The absence of Kyle Busch is very noticeable each NASCAR weekend.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has been sidelined since breaking his leg and foot in the season-opening XFINITY Series race at Daytona International Speedway. An avid racer, Busch typically raced in multiple events throughout each weekend, so his absence on the track is clear to both fans and competitors alike.
Even his biggest rivals can't help but notice. Former Sprint Cup Series champion and longtime rival of Busch, Brad Keselowski, took Busch's absence to write another blog entry, this time documenting his long and rocky relationship with 'Rowdy' Busch.
The Team Penske driver documents how his relationship with Busch initially began out of jealousy. As a 17-year-old, Keselowski thought he was too young to be part of Roush Racing's Gong Show, a contest for young up-and-coming drivers. However, the Rochester Hills, Michigan, native was upset to learn Busch, then just 16 years old, had earned the Truck Series ride up for grabs.
Keselowski wrote:
"I didn't get invited. At the time, I figured it was because of my age. I was sure that I was the right guy to get at least an opportunity. I simply wasn't old enough to get a chance. I could live with that. Then I saw Kyle Busch had won the Gong Show. He was 16.
"It ate me alive."
Busch did not actually win the Gong Show, instead he replaced winners Chuck Hossfeld and Nathan Haseleu, who had not performed up to expectations.
However, from that day forward, Keselowski explains, his relationship and feelings toward Kyle Busch changed.
In 2001, Keselowski attempted to talk with Busch for the first time, while parked next to one another in the Indianapolis Raceway Park truck series garage. Keselowski explains he was "stone cold jealous" of Busch, but tried to be the bigger person and introduce himself.
After a brief, "Hello," Busch apparently simply stared at Keselowski and never said a word.
"It was one of the first times I'd ever tried to be bigger than my own jealousy and disappointment," Keselowski wrote. "Kyle had wound up feeding both, and he definitely didn't know it. In fact, he probably doesn't remember that exchange at all. But it actually affected me quite a bit.
"I wasn't a mature 17 year-old, and I was still really struggling with my lack of success and opportunities. It was the first time I'd ever tried to put myself out there with another driver like that, and in my mind, I'd gotten burned.
"That first experience with Kyle impacted a lot more than my interactions with him. It shaped the way I dealt with other drivers from that point forward. In some ways, it probably still does."
Keselowski went on to discuss various races in which the two had significant disagreements -- Watkins Glen in 2012 and the XFINITY Series race at Kansas in 2013, to name a few -- but admitted he is trying to move past his past feelings about Kyle Busch.
"I have a lot of respect for what Kyle does in a race car," said Keselowski. "The pure competition aspect of racing is what motivates me the most -- more than money, status, or other ancillary things. It's what I love about racing, and why I want to compete at the Cup level.
"And again, it's why I want Kyle back on the track."
Read Keselowski's full blog post here.
