DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 08: Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, leads a pack of cars during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Busch Clash at Daytona International Speedway on February 08, 2020 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Brad Keselowski frustrated with blocking at Daytona; Hamlin chimes in
Shane Walters
Keselowski cheekily suggests removing seat belts so drivers are forced stop throwing bad blocks
On Sunday, Brad Keselowski entered the Busch Clash at Daytona International Speedway. While it’s an exhibition event, it’s officially the first race of the new season.
The Clash was loaded with crashes. A field of 18 drivers was crashed down to just 6 cars that were able to cross the finish line and one of those was a lap down.
Before that, Keselowski was one of many, taken out. Kyle Busch had a run on Joey Logano. Logano threw a block to the bottom, then he moved high to block.
As Kyle Busch went back to the bottom, he clipped the left rear of Logano in the process. This hooked Logano and put him in the wall.
Brad Keselowski was collected in this. And, once again, Keselowski was taken out in the blocking situation at a superspeedway.
Since 2014, Keselowski has a best finish of 12th in the Daytona 500. This is a driver with 7 career NASCAR Cup Series wins at Daytona and Talladega.
Keselowski has a history of being frustrated with blocking…
July 2018
Back in July of 2018, Brad Keselowski had a huge push from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. As William Byron threw a late block, it caused a chain reaction crash that took out 10+ cars.
Brad Keselowski: “You know, I’m just not wrecking enough people. I need to wreck more people so they’ll stop throwing bad blocks.”
“And that’s what’s happening to me on the plate tracks. Everyone that’s watching out there, all those drivers… Throw another bad block, I’m just going to drive through you and wreck you.”
“So, look out in Talladega…”
February 2020
Following the crash on Sunday at Daytona, Keselowski noted more of the same.
“Yeah, we just got wrecked for no reason,” Brad Keseowski told Bob Pockrass after Sunday’s race at Daytona.
“Dumb, dumb racing. Just dumb moves being thrown out there. Guys that don’t know what they’re doing. So, they throw crazy ass blocks.”
“It’s just ridiculous. We shouldn’t be wrecking all these cars.”
“I’m not as smart as Tony Stewart. He could say it a lot better than I could. Just, dumb.”
“You’d think these guys would be smarter than that. Look, we all cause wrecks. Shit, I get in wrecks all the time and I cause them.”
“But… the same one over and over again. It’s the same thing. Somebody throws a stupid block, it’s never going to work and then wrecks half the field.”
“I don’t know… Maybe we need to take the helmets out of these cars and take the seat belts out. Somebody will get hurt. Then, they’ll stop driving like assholes.”
Denny Hamlin reacts
Keselowski does not state Joey Logano anywhere in the above. However, he was taken out just after a situation where Joey Logano threw a block on Kyle Busch.
Hamlin heard the comments above.
“Correct assessment. Please repeat this statement in your team meeting,” Hamlin said.
Other notes of interest
It’s worth noting that Hamlin has a prior history with Joey Logano. As recently as last year when the two drivers got into a physical altercation after Martinsville Speedway.
It’s also worth noting that, Paul Wolfe is now the crew chief for Joey Logano. He previously worked with Brad Keselowski.
Beyond that, Keselowski has just had a horrible opening week to the 2020 NASCAR season.
Final Daytona 500 qualifying practice opened, Keselowski was exiting the garage area. On his way out, a car stopped in front of him.
Keselowski hit the brakes, they didn’t work. Instead, he caught the latch on the gate and it ripped the right side of his car open. Keselowski crashed in the garage area, before turning a single lap in the session.
The damage was extensive. The jack post, was ripped out of the car. The passenger side door also had a large hole in it.
NASCAR allowed the team to stay an extra hour in the garage to work on their torn race car. Also, Keselowski himself, stuck around to help the team get the job done.
The Daytona 500 car was repaired, no backup needed.
After all that, Keselowski entered the Clash and got crashed. Though, it’s a different car than the Daytona 500 car.