Penske's Keselowski says NASCAR should ditch 'poorly designed' cars
NASCAR needs to replace its "poorly designed" Cup car with one that allows drivers to race more easily on intermediates tracks, says 2012 champion Brad Keselowski after crashing at Kentucky
On the restart following the break between stages one and two at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night, Keselowski got out of shape when alongside Clint Bowyer and triggered a crash that also collected Jimmie Johnson.
It was the fourth race-ending crash in seven Cup rounds for Penske Ford driver Keselowski.
He said the difficulty of wheel-to-wheel racing on medium-sized ovals such as Kentucky was forcing drivers to push too hard on restarts.
"I got stuck in the aero and it just pulled me around," Keselowski explained.
"It's part of the deal when you race at these types of tracks: one groove and the car and the way it's designed.
"You have to find a way around it as a driver and I didn't find a way around it.
"We weren't as fast as we wanted to be - which is always frustrating - but I'm probably as frustrated with myself as I am with the situation.
"I'm frustrated with the sport that we can't design a better car that you can race without having to do everything on the restart."
Cup venues have been experimenting with methods to increase the number of viable racing grooves, with Kentucky using a machine known as the 'tyre dragon' to drag tyres over the track surface to lay more rubber down.
Keselowski thinks the focus should be on improving the car rather than the circuits.
"[Kentucky] made a good effort but there is a limitation with how the car is. It needs a lot more help than the tyres.
"It's just a poorly designed race car and it makes racing on tracks like this very difficult to put on the show we want to put on for the fans.
"You do what you can to gouge and claw on the restarts and get everything you can get.
"You've got to put yourself in bad situations to do that and that's where we were.
"And if you don't make those moves on the restarts, then you run in the back or you have a bad day.
"It's time for this sport to design a new car that's worthy of where this sport deserves to be and the show it deserves to put on for the fans."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
NASCAR Cup Texas: Late clash helps Elliott end 42-race winless streak
NASCAR Cup Martinsville: Byron leads emotional Hendrick 1-2-3
How NASCAR is gearing up for its "biggest change" in 2022
Keselowski, Buescher sweep Duels for RFK as Daytona 500 grid set
Keselowski let Talladega NASCAR victory "slip away"
Brad Keselowski's top 10 moments of 2012
Newgarden fastest in rain-shortened first day of Indy 500 Open Test
IndyCar drivers offer ideas and format tweaks for Thermal exhibition race
Why Penske remains ambitious for its WEC learning year
Latvala: Neuville, Evans tied for WRC Croatia lead "something special"
WEC Imola: Ferrari remains on top in FP2 as Fuoco beats Porsche
WRC Croatia: Neuville, Evans tied for the lead after eight stages
WIN! A VIP Race Weekend Experience in Monaco
The ex-F1 driver taking on NASCAR with a new team
The early benefits and challenges of NASCAR's Next Gen car
How Penske's rookie sensation opened NASCAR's new era in style
Six key themes to follow in the 2022 NASCAR Cup season
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments