page_title: Brad Keselowski
section_title: 2013
hierarchical_section_title: Brad Keselowski / NASCAR / 2010–present: Penske years / 2013
caption_attribution_description: Brad Keselowski during the 2013 STP Gas Booster 500 at Martinsville Speedway. (April 7, 2013)
context_page_description: Bradley Aaron Keselowski is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 2 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 12 Mustang for Team Penske. He was the owner of Brad Keselowski Racing, which fielded two full-time teams in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series.
  Keselowski, who began his NASCAR career in 2004, is the second of only four drivers that have won a championship in both the Cup Series and the Xfinity Series, and the twenty-fifth driver to win a race in each of NASCAR's three national series.
  Keselowski is also the owner and founder of Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing, a hybrid manufacturing company based in Statesville, North Carolina, specializing in additive metal technologies as well as CNC machining.
context_section_description: Keselowski opened the 2013 season with four straight top-5 finishes, including a fourth-place finish in the Daytona 500 despite being caught up in two crashes. He almost was on point to repeat what Dale Earnhardt had accomplished in 1995 – start off the season following his championship with five top five finishes, but this attempt came to an end at the Auto Club 500, where he finished 24th after dealing with handling issues. He posted three more top-10s in the next three races before suffering a dropped cylinder in his engine towards the end of the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway that relegated him to a 33rd-place finish. From April–May 2013, Keselowski had one of his worst spring starts of a NASCAR season.
  At Talladega, Keselowski had a promising run. After a long red flag due to rain Keselowski was entering the top ten. He drove his way up to contention to win after two crashes. On the last restart, Keselowski started on the low line. Because of a misunderstanding, Keselowski was not happy with the race winner David Ragan after he ended up in 15th spot due to him being told to restart on the not preferred low line. David Ragan lined up on the high side after making a pass on Keselowski under caution. Ragan used the lane and went on to win a race that is considered the biggest upset of 2013.
  After climbing out of his car, Keselowski gave a rant on Twitter accusing David Ragan of lining up improperly and NASCAR allowing a rule violation. Nobody agreed with him and Keselowski got jeered by fans and medias; which further made Keselowski frustrated. However, after looking at a video of the finish Keselowski realized that NASCAR was directing fairly and that Ragan was fairly in his line; he apologized two days later.
  At Darlington, Keselowski finished in 32nd place after being involved in a crash on lap 313. At Charlotte in the All-Star race, Keselowski had one of his most heartbreaking races ever. On lap 2, he lost a transmission. He had to slide 15,000 feet back around the track to get to the garage. His car had broke down from steering problems that would take the rest of the race to fix. Keselowski also attended the Indianapolis 500 to cheer on and direct his Team Penske friend/teammate Helio Castroneves. At the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, though, on lap 317, Keselowski was wrecked by Danica Patrick after her off-track boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse made it three wide. Keselowski subsequently retired from the race, finishing 35th, his first DNF since the 2012 Daytona 500. At Kentucky, Keselowski won the rain-shortened Nationwide race, but in the Sprint Cup race, he was tagged on lap 47 by Kurt Busch, causing a seven car wreck, and he finished 34th. He then had a 21st-place finish at Daytona in the Coke Zero 400.
  At New Hampshire, Keselowski won his first pole of the season.  On August 10, 2013, Keselowski won at Watkins Glen in the Nationwide series, giving him 4 consecutive wins in his last 4 starts.
  At Watkins Glen International in the Cup race, Keselowski recovered from a spin in turn 1 to challenge former Cup rival Kyle Busch for the victory. Keselowski was unable to get by Kyle and finished in second place for the third consecutive time in the event (2011, 2012, and 2013). Brad raced Kyle completely clean, later saying he did it in an attempt to repair their old rivalry. After the event at Watkins Glen International, Keselowski said "I had nothing for Kyle. He had a great run. Congrats to him and those guys. I could not get by him unless I wrecked him in that final turn and I didn't want to create drama so I decided to settle for my second place spot."
  At Michigan, Keselowski nearly scored his first dream Cup victory at Michigan while in a fuel crisis. Keselowski led with 30 laps left but caution issues forced him to pit, putting him in 12th spot for the final results. The only positive side of Keselowski's heartbreak was that through his new teammate Joey Logano who won the race; Penske Racing won at the track they originated from. After the race, Keselowski emotionally said that although he was sad
caption: Keselowski during the 2013 STP Gas Booster 500 at Martinsville.
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