Keselowski's Techniques Always Changing at Dega

Credit: Debbie Ross for Skirts and Scuffs

Brad Keselowski is the most active winner at Talladega Super Speedway, but the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion doesn't know what to expect at the high banks of the 2.66-mile track, where they're scheduled to race on Father’s Day, June 21st.

Keselowski, who holds five wins, seven top-five finishes, and 11 top 10s, credits the constant changes at the superspeedways for the uncertainty despite his success.

“It changes almost every two or three years to where, quite honestly, your techniques and tactics have to completely evolve,” Keselowski said in a Zoom press conference Friday. “If you go back, you look at the plate races even three years ago, it’s completely different.

"I think you go back and look at the plate races from 20 years ago and, my goodness, those guys wouldn’t even know what they were looking at. I watch some of those races just because I think they’re really cool and fun, and I can’t even comprehend what’s going on because the racing was so much different, and the moves that worked or didn’t work were completely different.”

The changes for the 2020 GEICO 500 are the result of a final-lap crash in the Daytona 500 that sent Ryan Newman to the hospital with significant injuries.

The rule changes for superspeedways will include the elimination of aero ducts, reduction in size of throttle body from 59/64” to 57/64”, and slip tape must be applied along the entire length of the lower rearward-facing surfaces of the rear bumper cover and extension.

Those are changes that are necessary to prevent another car from going airborne like Newman did. But with significant changes and no practice due to restrictions placed after COVID-19, nobody knows what will happen until the start of the race.

“You hope everybody is smart and that they take chances. You have to take chances to learn,” Keselowski said. “But by the same token you hope they don’t take chances that are potentially lethal to everyone else’s day and causes big wrecks, but I can’t speak for everyone.

“Everybody has a different approach. It’s one of the great things about life is that we’re all different, and on the racetrack it plays out. Everybody has different motivations, challenges, goals and they all kind of get thrown into this big pot at Talladega with no practice. We’ll see what happens.”

The NASCAR Cup Series event at Talladega is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET on FOX, while the NASCAR Xfinity Series will be held at 5:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
-------------------------------------------------