BROOKLYN, Mich. – Brad Keselowski wants to win at his home track Michigan International Speedway.
The Michigan native has never won a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at his home track and it’s very high on his list of goals with Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 his next opportunity.
“I have said it before and I will keep repeating it, a win here would be like winning the Daytona 500 for me,” said the Rochester, Michigan native. “A home track means a lot to any race car driver. It is your friends and family and there is a lot of notoriety that comes with it. It makes the losses sting more and the wins sweeter.
“The fact we have been so close and not achieved it is very top of mind every time I come here. We are pushing hard to make it happen and I feel like we have a decent shot this weekend.”
The Team Penske driver, who will roll off third in Sunday’s race, is looking for his first win of the season. While he’s been very consistent in 2018, Keselowski knows his team needs to find the next level in order to compete more regularly for wins and t solidify himself in the playoff picture.
“I try not to take success for granted and try to appreciate it as it comes,” Keselowski said of his to date winless season. “You never know where life is going to take you. Surprised isn’t the right word. I would say disappointed is a better word. I want to win, I want to win a lot of races.
“I feel like we have a pretty strong team. … We have had two or three races where we had the speed to win. That said, we haven’t been able to execute on those.”
The desire to win drives Keselowski on a weekly basis and although he’s not been able to break through yet this season, he remains determined to do so while at the same time understanding the intensity level of the competition in NASCAR’s top division.
“I wouldn’t say it is very high,” Keselowski said when asked about his frustration level of still being winless this season.
“I get more frustrated when we have a winning car and I screw it up or we screw it up with execution than I do when we are a fifth place car and run third. There is a hunger. I don’t know if there is a big frustration but there is a real large hunger.”
