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Daytona Beach, FL – In a remarkable display of resilience and dedication, NASCAR Cup Series driver Brad Keselowski is set to compete in the upcoming Daytona 500, just eight weeks after sustaining a severe femur fracture during a family skiing trip. The incident, which occurred on December 18th, required surgery and the insertion of a titanium rod in his right thigh, a significant injury that cast initial doubts on his ability to participate in the season’s marquee event.
Keselowski, a 2012 Cup Series champion and co-owner of RFK Racing, addressed the media at Daytona 500 Media Day, acknowledging the gravity of his injury and the arduous recovery process. "I won’t say it was my idea but I thought it was a good one," Keselowski remarked, referencing the custom cane he’s been using, adorned with his sponsors’ logos, a testament to his pragmatic approach even in adversity.
The initial prognosis following the accident was stark. "I’m eight weeks in and I’ll tell you until about three to five weeks in there was a question of if I was going to walk again, let alone drive a race car," Keselowski revealed. "Those were the thoughts that were going through my mind. I was confident I was going to put the work in and I was going to own whatever result there was." He described moments of significant doubt, particularly in the early weeks of recovery. "There was certainly a lot of moments where you’re like, ‘Oooh, this isn’t a layup.’ About that week-four, week-five mark, I made some pretty big steps and progress quite literally, but, again, I didn’t know until I got in the car what it was going to be. Until you get in a race car going 190 miles an hour, you don’t know. You don’t know how it’s going to feel."
Despite the challenges, medical professionals have given Keselowski the green light to compete in the Daytona 500. He expressed a surprising comfort level once situated within the confines of his No. 6 RFK Racing Ford. "When I’m in the car I know I’ve got an injury, don’t get me wrong, but I feel the best in the car," he stated. "The seat is molded to me really well and you get a little adrenaline flowing, so I felt pretty good."
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The primary difficulty, however, lies not in the driving itself, but in the physical act of entering and exiting the race car. "You have to really turn your leg and your hips and there’s a lot of extra parts in me that aren’t quite ready for that, and I have to be intentional," Keselowski explained. This maneuver requires careful execution to avoid exacerbating the still-healing fracture.
This is not the first time Keselowski has overcome a significant lower-body injury to compete. In 2011, he famously won a Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway just four days after breaking his left ankle during a high-speed testing crash at Road America. However, he emphasized that the current femur fracture is considerably more severe. "This is way more serious," Keselowski asserted. "When I broke my ankle, that sucked, don’t get me wrong… it was very painful but in a couple weeks I was fairly mobile. This is a much more significant injury, unfortunately."
He elaborated on the unique nature of a femur fracture, noting, "It’s hard to explain to people that have never broken their femur before what it’s like. It’s not the same as breaking your leg below the knee. Your femur is the biggest bone in your body. It’s got a lot of things running through it and it has to heal. You can’t really cast it. You can’t do any of those things, so you just kind of have to tough it out."
The projected recovery timeline for such an injury is typically six months. While Keselowski anticipates being able to compete in the Daytona 500 and potentially the following race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the upcoming road course event at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, presents a greater concern. "COTA is a big concern for me," Keselowski admitted. "I’ve got two-and-a-half weeks to COTA. If I had to run the full race today, I’m not 100 percent sure I could do it, but I’ll have another two weeks of reps and rehab to continue to gain and hopefully I can get there." Should he be unable to complete the COTA race, road racing specialist Joey Hand is reportedly on standby as a potential relief driver.
The initial pain following the injury was so intense that Keselowski described having fleeting thoughts of amputation. "When I was laying on the ground and I was completely immobile immediately after I broke my leg, what was going through my mind was like, ‘Oh my God’ and I was thinking about the soldiers in the Civil War," he recalled. "They would just cut their leg off right there and I understood why they would do it because it hurt so bad. It was by far the worst pain I ever went through. I get why they would bring out the hacksaw. There was part of me that’s like, ‘That might actually feel better.’"
Despite the severity of the injury and the missed non-points exhibition race, the Cookout Clash, Keselowski is determined to maintain his remarkable streak of 546 consecutive Cup Series starts, a streak dating back to his debut in 2010. "I’ve never missed a points race in my Cup career," he stated. "The Clash, I’ve been ineligible for it a few times. I was ineligible for it the year after I won the championship. I don’t have an affinity for that race as a whole if that makes sense, but that said it’s a race and when there’s a race you want to be in it." He admitted to some disappointment at missing the event, particularly a moment when the race was delayed by inclement weather.
However, his primary regret was not being present to witness and celebrate his teammate Ryan Preece secure his first Cup Series (exhibition) victory at the Cookout Clash. "That said, seeing Ryan win was really awesome and I wish I could have been there to celebrate that with him," Keselowski concluded. "You could see how pumped he was and how much it meant to him, and hopefully I’ll get that opportunity in a points-paying race."
The return of Brad Keselowski to the driver’s seat for the Daytona 500, after such a significant injury, underscores the immense physical and mental fortitude required at the pinnacle of motorsports. His ability to push through the pain and rehabilitation process, aiming to maintain his competitive edge and an impressive career start streak, serves as a compelling narrative as the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season officially commences.
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