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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Keselowski Won’t Budge
Brad Keselowski is at the center of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series controversy...
Mike Hembree  |  Posted March 19, 2010   Bristol, TN
Brad Keselowski is currently 33rd in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Brad Keselowski has been given every chance to back away from his plan to continue to race aggressively despite the spotlight that continues to blind him.

He said again Friday after qualifying 36th for Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway that his approach to racing will not change and that he doesn’t anticipate any movement after Saturday’s scheduled meeting involving Carl Edwards and NASCAR officials.

“I’m going to bring my ears,” Keselowski said. “I’m going to listen as much as I talk. There will be a lot of high-profile people there, I’m sure.”

NASCAR officials are expected to meet Saturday with Keselowski, Edwards and team owners Roger Penske (Keselowski) and Jack Roush (Edwards) to discuss the Keselowski-Edwards incidents two weeks ago at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Edwards was placed on probation for three weeks by NASCAR as a result of the Atlanta incidents.

“I hope that everything’s OK (after the meeting),” Keselowski said. “I hope everybody walks out and feels OK. I’ll be watching and listening.

“I hope there are doughnuts. I like doughnuts.”

After qualifying eighth Friday, Edwards said he hopes participants will leave the meeting with a better understanding of how things stand.

“I really think that we’ll come out of it better,” he said. “In the end, hopefully, this is something that six months from now we can look back and go, ‘Man, I’m glad that’s over with,’ and everybody will maybe understand one another better. That would be the best thing.”

Keselowski said he has not been influenced by criticism of his aggressive driving style voiced by some veteran drivers this week. He said no one has approached him directly.

“Nobody reaches out to me,” he said. “I’ve tried to talk to a few, but they really don’t seem all that interested, to be honest. I think they have something to gain by talking about it. It points things away from their own problems. They benefit by diverting attention away from their own struggles.”

Keselowski said his biggest interest is seeing how fans react.

“I guarantee there will be a lot of focus by the media, but I’m more interested in how the fans react than anything else,” he said. “The fans are the ultimate gauge in our sport and ultimately dictate what’s right and what’s wrong.”

He won’t be able to please everybody, in any case, Keselowski said.

“You’re not going to make competitors happy,” he said. “It’s not possible. Part of running well is making your competitors angry. I can point fingers back the other way and say they’ve been wrong and I’ve been right. It’s all even in my mind.”

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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