THE BLOG

Very well said

Thank you for your words of wisdom. I happen to agree with everything you said. One can only hope that many will read this and decide to at least give it some thought. We should never judge. I am just happy at this point, that our driver is the one writing this with such conviction. Hats off to you Brad! Blessings to you and your family. #2 fan forever!

Very well said and true. I hope people read this and remember to put this in their daily life.

Very well spoken, Brad! It is true that today’s world offers all of us an inside look at pretty much everyone else’s life. Good, bad, and ugly. Perhaps that can allow us to see we are all human, make mistakes- and hopefully learn from them and don’t make them again. And when we see others make mistakes, perhaps we could first remember our own – and choose to show restraint. Be kind. Because we all make mistakes. And criticizing others’ errors just to hear our own voices makes things worse. For everyone involved.

Well Spoken Brad…Keep up the good work on and off the track..What’s going on with the #22 Team, they we doing so good and after the win was taken away, they are really struggling..Please tell them to get that program back in gear……..Thank you and God bless you….

Perfectly said. Sometimes as fans we don’t understand everything even as everyday people athletes in all sports are human and get mad it’s natural. I’ve always been a fan of yours and always will be

Very well said.

You continually reinforce my decision in choosing you and your team as the one I root for. Thank you for your honesty. I look forward to meeting you someday. I plan on visiting Team Penske headquarters soon on my upcoming vacation because I admire what Mr. Roger Penske has done in his life and count myself as one of his best fans.

Awesome Brad you hit the nail on the head..my mother in law had a saying,if you can’t say anything nice about someone don’t say anything at all..

I love this and that you take the time to share with your fans. I met you and had a picture made with you at Texas the year you won the Championship. I knew then no matter what others said or thought of you, you were a great person and appreciated the fans. You took the time to visit with us and take pictures and that goes along way. I am proud of the sportsmanship you show and your honesty. Your right none of us are perfect and we are all guilty of judging others. Like you I think our society has a long way to go yet. I always think before I say or do something how would I feel if I was on the receiving end or one of my friends or family members. I still fall short but certainly make every effort to treat others with respect, dignity and consideration. I am in nursing and taking care of others is such a rewarding feeling. Hugs to you and your sweet family..

Interesting blog, but it seems a “part 2” is due. When we talk of sinning, we must also talk of repentance; When we talk about offense against someone, we must also talk about apologizing.

Kyle Busch should apologize to the members of the media for doing that mic drop. You should apologize to Kyle for calling him an a**hole years ago on the public address system at Bristol.

Wow just wow! I met you when your family ran trucks back in 2003. You were polite, quiet and seemed perfectly content sitting on the ground leaning against a fence just off pit road. Today your thoughts/words are great and very timely. Come from someone who can be calm when all around is chaos. This message is about more than just racing fans, drivers and media. It is about humananity. Being able to show/give respect and be kind despite words and deeds that become regrets could be more powerful than anything. This message has sent my thoughts down a road to seek forgiveness from those who I disconnected from because of the sin and the sinner. I would give anything to go back to 2003 and hang out with that kid near the fence. I know I would be better for it. Thanks

Brad, that was so awesome. We pray for you and your family a lot. God is using you in such a mighty way whether you realize it or not. You are our favorite driver and we hope we get to meet you someday. You have a very beautiful family. Keep writing and always looking for the good things in life that take you down the right paths. God bless you and your family.

I have been following you since you have join the sport and I think I think you’re a great great person great driver and very sensible dude thank you for all you done for the sport and I think you got a lot more to do only thing I hate about you is you’re driving a Ford I’m a Chevy guy bro but keep up the good work man I will be watching peace.

Well said Brad! The truth is that we all have faults in our stars, after all we are in it to win it. It’s this true passion that shines that star bright for all the world to see!

Thanks for the insights,may we all be better to each other..Dont always agree with others but that’s life and makes us all interesting.Love your blogs

Hi Brad. I was a sports reporter for 8 years, I played into the hype of talking up athletes to give the fans what they wanted. They wanted the players on their hometown team to be heros, you know so they can say I meant so and so and he is a great guy (they may have got an autograph and a half a hi one day) they don’t want to know that right after the cameras are off they are doing things that are no so heroic. I was a gear in the machine right up until I did an post game interview with the hero of the game. He had to clear some things out of his locker before the camera rolled, whatever I was used to that. I gave him his typical A game, 110%, team effort clip. I walked out of the locker room and a few steps later life changed forever. I saw a young girl, about my daughters age, wearing the guy I just interviewed jersey and holding hands with her dad. I wanted to stop the guy and tell him that he really doesn’t want his daughter wearing this jersey and supporting this “hero” but I didn’t. I realized I had that opportunity every night but instead I fed into that dad buying that jersey for his kid I only told the good stuff. I’ve never felt more guilty and ashamed. That was a Friday night. I went into the newsroom on Monday and had a long talk about the kind of reporting I wanted to do. I was told that wouldn’t get ratings and we would be banned from covering these Hometown teams. So I was moved to news where I covered politics instead. There it was encouraged to call people out. I found that complete reversal very strange. We had to make sports people heros and politicians villains and that’s what drove the ratings. That’s what people wanted.
I agree with you Brad, we can make the world a better place by personally being better, treating each other a little better, cut some slack and not be so quick to judge.
By the way, I did get an autograph from you in Vegas 2013. I expected a half hello when I told you that I really enjoying you on twitter, to my surprise you said thanks I appreciate that! Then you asked who some of the other autographs were on the hat and if I’m enjoying the hot weather – I was actually stunned! I stood close by after and listened to you conversing with other fans. I was so impressed -and still am with your blog posts – and I have no problem with my kids supporting Kes!

This reminds me of your incident on pit road with Matt Kenseth at Charlotte. How that whole situation unfolded was not something I was very supportive of, buy in the end everyone makes mistakes. It certainly doesn’t retract from the amount of good that you do for the sport.

A change needs to happen and we all expect it to start somewhere else. Way to start this movement, lets hope it continues. Change will only come 1 selfless person at a time.

Good read by a good man. Well done BK

Wow! Well said. I have always liked you, but now I totally dig you!! You my friend, rock, and have a strong grasp on the world around you! Keep spreading the word that we’re all human, and sometimes we don’t make the right choice or do the right thing while the whole world is watching, and that’s okay. Keep on, keeping on!

As I have said in other comments before just another reason why I’m a big fan and the way you keep growing with the sport and try to help people (fans) understand what drivers go through this was an awesome article. Thank you Brad.

Hey Brad! We actually met before the GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono in 14′ at a MIllerLite event with my son. Been a fan of racing since I was little. Love the action and especially grew to love the personalities involved. I was a peripheral viewer and a DEsr fan until I saw one thing on track. Richard Petty’s last race, if you remember his car got torn up caught in a wreck. He soldiered around with no nose at old Atlanta for half the race, and the old ESPN crew of Mike Jenkins, Ned Jarret and Benny Parsons commented on it. Pointing out how the other racers were going wide around Richard cause they knew his car musta been a handful, and they talked about respect. You know the ole’ Intimidator would soon as wreck you as hug you to win a race, or make a point on track, they started with him. The the camera stayed on him and showed how everyone that came up on him slowed before and passed wide for a few laps. That’s when I started to get it. I love Dale sr, but without the other racers it would be a pretty lonely and boring show now wouldn’t it? So I took my blinders off when they talked about this new kid making his debut and started paying more attention to all the diverse and amazing people that make up Nascar and Stock Car racing. Damn, I even started watching ARCA Racing!!! and some of the other Nascar touring series, pre-truck and then the Trucks as well as Xfinity (BGN then). You know what happened? I fell deeper in love with such a rich sport with such a rich history and realized there was very little I didn’t like about any of it or any of the personalities attached. People are people first, before they strap on a racecar, or get their tools out, or climb up on the spotter’s stand or control booth, or pitbox etc… it’s the people in a sport that make it worth watching. Did I like seeing Dale dump Terry at Bristol in 99’… Nope. That was awkward to say the least and if you watch the clip you hear it in Mike Jenkins voice while it was happening. (Expletive here). That was Earnhardt at his worst. I still loved him, accepting his faults as a driver and a human being. Hell I like Bodine, all of them, KB, you etc … Dale said it, when he said rubbin is racing, you rub sometimes and sometimes you get caught up while your hearts beating 180 times a min, you see the red mist. That’s nothing to hide, like Joey at Martinsville ( like him also btw and Kenseth), not much to be celebrated wither, but all part of the whole big thing that is Nascar. I wasn’t happy with Kenseth or Joey, for either of there moves, but you could see why. That’s HUMAN. Ain’t no engineer can break that down for you and none should try …

Best to you and yours…

This was very inspiring to me and even thought about my own life. In the older days Dale and Rusty would bump, fight and wreck the other to win. But off the track they were friends. You are out there to win a race. That’s your job. And you shouldn’t be criticized or hated because of what happens on the track. All we can do is try our best to be good people, and to be good to others. Great job. Hopefully people will get as inspired as I did and want to stop judging each other. We should all just want to be better people.

OK, I’ll admit it, I’m a big JGR/Matt Kenseth fan. Sort of natural enemies for Joey Legano and Penske racing. But your blog article has softened my heart toward you and Joey. Great words, well written, and honest. Thanks, Brad. I respect you so much now. On the court in basketball, you have 5 competitors. In baseball, you have 9. In hockey, you have 6. In football, you have 11. But in NASCAR, you have around 40 competitors all racing for 3 hours to pound you, to beat you, to get you to make a mistake. That’s a lot of pressure. But your words give us fans good perspective on your feelings, and especially on your “human-ness”. Can’t say I’m going to root for you during a race, but I’m sure not going to root against you. I want you to finish well. Good luck, and thank you, Brad.

Yeah………..remember what Denny said about you

Hi Brad! Been a fan since your early days on the NASCAR scene. So proud for you and your accomplishments. I love what you had to say. We are all so judgmental of on another -social media has been both a godsend as well as a curse. If people don’t get what they want or hear what they want, BANG! They are spewing hateful words and acting like fools. It hurts my heart. When competing, you all want to win and when you’re close and it doesn’t happen, sure, there’s disappointment -you’re allowed to feel what you do-tough toe nails if fans have a problem with what you say when a microphone is stuck in your face moments afterwards. I love you Brad! Keep up with the blog and all the best and happiness to you and your family

Brad, the more I watch you as a driver and human being the more I like you. I agree with what you have written. I wished some of Nascar fans wouldn’t be so childish and go overboard when things happen on and off the track. I enjoy seeing drivers interactions on and off track. Everyone has bad days at work and things can get heated. Normally by the next race I’ll see drivers who I had thought had problems with each other sitting and talking while waiting to appear on stage. Best Wishes! P.S. Thank you for not wearing sunglasses all the time while talking. The eyes tell it all. You can tell when someone’s not being sincere.

Brad that was a great blog. I love reading your posts. You are truly an asset to the world of racing and to just ordinary people. Everyone needs to take a “self evaluation” and I am sure we can all find areas that we can improve on. Just think how nice our world would be if all were positive and caring towards each other. I am 58 years old and I have followed you since you started racing and I have to say you have grown so much on the track and most importantly as a family man. I pray that one day I might get a chance to meet you at one of the races because I really admire you and all of the good things you do. You are setting a great example for your little one. NEVER stop what you are doing.

That right there, shows an adult with great humility and personal growth… wish this could go viral because it says *so much* to *all of us*. Way to go Brad Keselowski… you rose *way up* in my opinion of you as a person, not just as a driver in a sport that I love.

So very true and also a sign of the level of maturity you have achieved!

If only your words could reach our society as a whole. Humanity and humility have, sadly, become rare qualities in us all.

Maturity, insight, so refreshing to read your words! Knowing that men and women gather and process information differently, Paige & your daughter are lucky women to have a husband/father who is willing to take time and reflect on these issues, how we process what we’ve heard, understanding someone else’s point of view and feelings. Thank you! For finding these words & sharing, for being a leader, for trying to set an example, knowing you’re infallible. ☺️ Sign me up! I want to read more!

What an awesome article!!! It really makes you stop amd think about things. Hopefully it makes enough people stop and think. Thank you so much for sharing this with your fans! Things like this is what makes me such a huge fan of yours.

This blog is infuriating. Nearly everyone who works a real job would love to go nuts the way drivers do, and most of us do not get paid the money you get for it. This wish for moderation in how people judge you is kind of pathetic. If I can hold my tongue at the stupidity and nonsense I deal with in network security, race car drivers can show some class at a press conference or sign some extra autographs. If they don’t, they deserve the barrage of verbal hate coming their way. You are correct though, drivers are human, and should be judge and treated the same way the rest of us in our own careers. As far as the publicity of your mistakes, it comes with your job, at least until motorsports become completely irrelevant (tickets sales at the Brickyard?). Maybe Nascar would attract more fans if people like Kyle Busch did not make a fool of himself and the entire sport in press conferences. If I were not already a race fan, I would have seen that and think “those guys are a bunch whinny over grown emo punks. I don’t want to watch those pathetic drama queens drive around in circles.” At the newer “stars” like Elliot, Larson, and Blaney seem to be able to control themselves. The sooner we are rid of clowns like Busch, Harvick, Kenseth, and Patrick the maybe the sooner the sport can recover form it’s decline. There is a reason Jr is so popular, and it’s not his dad. He has been the only cool guy racing for the last decade.

Thanks for this thoughtful and insightful piece Brad. It’s refreshing to read your thoughts which are not only valid for the sport (any sport for that matter), but also for our culture generally these days. Thanks for the reminder to treat others with dignity and respect. Proud to be your fan!

Now just practice what you preach and you will gain that much more respect as a person, gain more fans, and will never need to look over your shoulder!!

Well written!

Nice piece! However I think it is good for Nascar to have a little controversy, it keeps the sport in the headlines when it needs it the most. We all have our favorite drivers and teams and it is natural not to like the other guy. I am a Eagles fan but hate the Cowboys. I am a Ford fan but hate Chevy & Toyota. The younger generation embraces social media so the more they see the better for the sport.

Hi Brad, I adopted you when Rusty retired. My grandmother tried to live with ( If you can’t say anything good then don’t say anything at all ) enjoyed reading this !

Brad, you are a WINNER always in my books! Love you posts of family. Keep it up! Super Super job you do! You ALWAYS have a positive attitude. Your mother in law’s saying is something that I am goi g to put in my life!

Thank you for being YOU!

Nice! And well written. I appreciate you speaking public ally about it.

Well said