Getty Brad Keselowski has set his goals for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Brad Keselowski will kick off his second NASCAR Cup Series season at RFK Racing with the Daytona 500. Prior to the big event, he set his goals for 2023.
Keselowski had five goals entering the 2022 season, his first with RFK Racing. This year, he has whittled down the list to only three. Though they are all important in their own right.
The first goal is to win at least two races. The 2022 season marked the first time since 2010 that he did not win a single Cup Series race. Now, Keselowski will try to get back to his winning ways while reaching the playoffs.
The second goal is to have one or fewer pit road penalties. This is key considering that multiple speeding penalties disrupted races at Talladega Superspeedway and Texas Motor Speedway.
I’ve got a few goals to check off in 2023. It starts today #6NeverQuits
1. Win 2+ races
2. 1 or less pit road penalties
3. 2+ poles
Finally, Keselowski will set out to win at least two Busch Light Pole Awards during the 2023 season. He won the pole at Texas Motor Speedway during the 2022 season, which was his first since the 2019 season when he had three pole wins. Now he will try to add more to his total while continuing to work with his team at RFK Racing.
Keselowski Remains Optimistic About 2023
GettyBrad Keselowski celebrates a pole win at Texas Motor Speedway.
The 2022 season was not ideal for Keselowski and RFK Racing. There were some solid performances early, but the team also received an L2-Level penalty after the first trip to Atlanta Motor Speedway. This led to the loss of 100 owner points, 100 driver points, and 10 playoff points.
Keselowski spent the remainder of the season trying to rebound from this penalty while simultaneously pursuing consistency. The No. 6 team made some positive strides, but there were still some struggles as the team tried to find consistent speed.
The offseason provided an opportunity for RFK Racing. The team spent considerable time examining the “painful lessons” learned during Keselowski’s first season in the No. 6. Now, the team members are ready to show off the results of their hard work.
“Your responsibility as a driver, in a lot of ways, is to kind of find the last five to 10 percent of a car and optimize the performance around that,” Keselowski told media members ahead of the Busch Light Clash. “What’s really tough is when you start at 60 percent even if you get five or 10 percent, you’re still at 70 percent.
“We started the year last year so far behind that I didn’t feel like I could even really help. So getting halfway through the year it started to get to where I think my feedback and input was valuable and we started to make the right moves and then you kind of naturally run into this trap that the things you need to fix you either don’t have the time to fix or you’re contractually limited with people or tools and contracts and so forth, and you literally just have to endure the pain until you get to an offseason.”
2023 Begins With an Important Event
Keselowski has big plans for the 2023 Cup Series season, but he does not know if he will achieve them. He will just take each event as it comes, starting with an elusive Crown Jewel.
The first points-paying race will be the Daytona 500 on February 19. This is the most important event of the season, and it is one that has eluded Keselowski throughout his career.
The 2012 Cup Series champion has achieved a significant amount in his career. He has 35 wins at the top level of NASCAR, and he has a championship on his resume. However, he has not been able to win the Daytona 500.
Keselowski has come close on numerous occasions. He finished fourth in 2013 and third in 2014. He was also running second behind Joey Logano on the final lap of the 2021 Daytona 500 before a chain reaction from a push led to a crash. Michael McDowell went on to win while Keselowski finished 13th.
The veteran driver-owner will now have another opportunity to pursue this goal. He will suit up for the season-opening Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 19, at 2:30 p.m. ET (FOX).