“There’s no greater giving back than seeing somebody build a life”: Brad Keselowski makes honest admission about NASCAR team ownership

Brad Keselowski started off as a NASCAR driver, so there’s a lot to love about the job. However, he became a team owner in 2022, and things have changed since then. Now, for him, there’s nothing more rewarding for the Cup Series regular than watching his employees build a life from scratch.

In July 2021, Roush Fenway Racing announced that Brad Keselowski would join the organization as a part-owner starting in 2022. This was something that Keselowski had wanted for years. It was also what made him leave Team Penske, a North Carolina-based outfit that helped him bag the Cup Series championship in 2012.

During a recent interview with Kelley Earnhardt on Dirty Mo Media, Keselowski said,

“There's a lot to love about being a driver, don't get me wrong, like, in a lot of cases you can just show up with the helmet bag and go and not have to worry about the drama. But there's other moments where you're like, we were right on the cusp of winning but we were missing this one piece outside of my control as a driver. I don't like that.”

But what he likes more than being in control from a competition perspective is to watch young employees grow and make a living off of their jobs.

“There’s no greater giving back than seeing somebody build a life, right? Being a part of the story to build that life. That to me is probably the ultimate high of being a team owner,” he added. (0:48)

Keselowski currently drives the No. 6 Mustang for RFK Racing. Last season, he finished 13th in points with nine top-5s and 14 top-10s to his credit. He also picked a win at Darlington in May and thus snapped a 110-race winless streak.

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Veteran NASCAR journalist amused at Brad Keselowski’s “trophy talk” with Kelley Earnhardt

Throughout his career in the NASCAR Cup Series, Brad Keselowski has won 36 races including crown jewel events like the Coca-Cola 600, the Brickyard 400, and the Southern 500. Interestingly, there have been times when he has had to fight to keep his trophies to himself rather than having his team take them home.

“We’ve had some battles at certain victory lanes where it’s kind of like, go get the trophy before the team takes it,” Brad Keselowski told Kelley Earnhardt. “Then you get the call like, hey, the trophy went missing in victory lane. Do you know where it is?”

Veteran FOX journalist Bob Pockrass found this funny. He shared the clip from Keselowski’s interview with Dirty Mo Media through a post on X (formerly Twitter) with the following caption:

“I listened to this conversation between Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Brad Keselowski during my run this morning and found it quite insightful (and the trophy talk a little humorous).”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. reposted Pockrass’ tweet later on. He is a team owner like Keselowski, so perhaps he can relate. Dale Jr. retired as a full-time driver in 2017 and since then he has been running races on a part-time Xfinity schedule under the banner of JR Motorsports, which he owns. This year, however, Dale Jr. will run several late-model races with his iconic No. 8 Budweiser Chevy.