NASCAR Post-Race Press Conference

Brad Keselowski celebrates his second win of the season in Victory Lane

Matt Sullivan/NASCAR via Getty Images

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by the race winner of today's race, Brad Keselowski.

Brad, your second victory and fifth top-10 finish just this year. Also here at Talladega, this is your fourth victory and ninth top-10 finish in 15 races.

Talk about that finish there.

BRAD KESELOWSKI: What can you say? Talladega has been good to me. It's great to be back on this podium as a race winner.

Very, very proud and thrilled today. Never know what you're going to get here. Talladega has always been that way. It's always been very good to me. I'm, like I said, thankful for that.

Crazy day. Somehow we managed to stay ahead of or out of all the chaos. A couple asked me about it. I didn't see it thankfully because I was in front of it. But that's how Talladega goes.

Sometimes we run here and everybody kind of lines up against the wall, and sometimes we come here and it's crazy side-by-side, wreck 'em up, flip 'em. I think that's kind of the allure to coming here because you don't know what you're going to get.

As a racer or driver, you have to be prepared either way to take advantage of the situation. We were able to do that today.

Just an all-around solid day. Nothing flashy today. Our execution was strong on pit road. We caught just a couple breaks there with getting the right pushes at the right time when we were side-by-side for the lead. All that added up to the victory we got today.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for Brad.

Q. 35 of 40 cars were in an accident today of some kind. How did you not get into an accident? Do you like that kind of racing?

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"] BRAD KESELOWSKI: I like racing (smiling). As far as not being in any of those accidents, we ran up front. None of the accidents today were at the front. That's your highest percentage shot, if you can run up front. It sounds real easy, it's not, otherwise everybody would do it.

We were fortunate to be second, third or better in every one of those accidents.

I hated to hear about cars flipping and doing all those things. Nobody wants that. But I think some accidents here and there, we might not like to cheer about it, but it is part of our sport and always has been part of automobile racing.

Q. With the topic of cars getting upside down, was this a topic you discussed in your drivers meeting on Friday or is this a subject that could be presented? How would you look at presenting this issue moving forward, especially with Daytona two months away?

BRAD KESELOWSKI: I haven't seen a replay of accidents, in fairness, to be able to maybe have at least a preliminary thought. I don't know what could have caused it.

Of course, it's not what we want to see. When cars get off the ground, bad things happen even more so. We kind of go beyond that acceptable risk factor. It's something we'll all have to look into and see what we can do better.

Like I said, I haven't seen them to know what happened, if they were more of a wedge-style flip where a car picks another car up, or aero flip, I don't know.

My gut says the wedge-style flips are just part of it, and the aero ones are the ones we can continue to science out and eliminate or reduce the risks of.

Q. You picked the outside. Discuss the strategy.

BRAD KESELOWSKI: The strategy was pretty simple. The outside lane had won the battle on the last three or four restarts to get to the lead, kind of clear up front. That's so pivotal here. Unfortunately it didn't work for us on that last restart. We fell back to second or third.

The key part, like I was talking about earlier, we got a push from the 1 car that helped me get a run to get up to the car of Kurt Busch. We were stalemate next to each other, pulling side drafts back and forth, back and forth, until eventually the 18 car came with a huge run, gave me the push we were looking for to clear and get up to the lead and kind of take ownership of that position.

All those things kind of came together for us, but we put ourselves in position all day by running up front.

Q. Throughout the race you were leading, you're blocking, trying to get drafts. First off, why did it seem like you were being so aggressive to stay in the lead throughout? Were any of those times you made a move and thought you got lucky?

BRAD KESELOWSKI: No, all the moves seemed to come together pretty well. We had good enough speed where we could make those moves. Part of this rules package, when we got rid of the tandem package, the only way we were able to do that was kind of create what the drivers all call the beach ball package, when the cars get close to each other, they squeeze a pocket of air. That makes blocking extremely successful because you can pull down in front of someone, hit that pocket of air, they beach ball push you away, for lack of a better term.

That's part of the racing, it's what works here. It's our responsibility as drivers to figure that out. Today was a day where my spotter and I worked together very well and we were able to do just that.

Q. When you take a look at today or any other plate race, is there ever a time you think that you are just insane for doing this?

BRAD KESELOWSKI: Yeah, you know, racing has always been that balance of daredevils and chess players. Some weekends we're chess players, some weekends we're daredevils. This has always been the more daredevil style of track, which probably offsets some of the tracks that we go to where we're the chess player.

That's what makes the NASCAR season so much fun and so unique. In other sports, the sports we think about, football, hockey, basketball, baseball, the field stays the same, or the court, whatever you want to call it, every week. Part of what makes racing so difficult and such an interesting dynamic is you compete against all the same people every week, and the thing that really mixes it up is the tracks are different every week. It's a different field, a different court.

This one is one where it's in-your-face challenging to you know if you make a mistake, it's going to be a really, really big wreck. You could go airborne, a lot of bad things could happen.

That is part of the challenge, overcoming that thought in the back of your head. It's difficult for people to do, but it's part of what makes it special, is the fact that you know that can happen. Despite it, you're going to make a move inches from another drive, cut them off, push them, you're going to drive sideways, hang it all out there knowing something bad can really happen. I think it's special under the circumstances and under that level of adversity. It's a challenge I've always embraced.

Q. Regarding safety, after the race Danica said she thinks the wall may be a little too far from the track and the backstretch. Austin said he would be in favor of anything that would help the cars to keep from flipping. What do you see at Talladega perhaps help what we saw today?

BRAD KESELOWSKI: I haven't thought of an answer to that and I didn't see the accidents. I wish I had a better answer for you. It's a question that deserves a great answer. Unfortunately, I don't have it.

I don't know really if anyone in our sport has the answer. But I would agree to some extent with Danica that the closer the walls are, the better the angles we hit at. But then it's nice sometimes to be able to save a car because you had space. Those things can go either way.

But, of course, I couldn't agree any more with Austin. I think that was the point I was trying to make earlier. We don't want cars to go in the air. There's never a guarantee where they are going to land. We don't want them to land in a fan's lap.

It's a fair question. Sorry I don't have an answer. I have an answer for a few things, just not that one.

Q. You talked about making changes to the team. Can you chronicle those for us, go into detail. You've been under the radar a little bit this season as far as being a little less demonstrative in public.

BRAD KESELOWSKI: 'Demonstrative', wow! I think the word 'monster' is in there, so it's kind of self-explanatory. Go ahead.

Q. Can you detail the changes and talk about your change in attitude.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"] BRAD KESELOWSKI: A lot of things have kind of shook up Team Penske, of course. The Wood Brothers relationship is one that we're proud of. Also it required some movement. Over the last 16 months, Team Penske has brought on another IndyCar team as well. That shook some things up along with some of the interest in Australia and so forth. Seen some key personnel changes across the board.

I would kind of feel ridiculous if I went through every one of them. Some pit crew changes as well. There's been a lot of them.

I carry this picture on my wall in one of our facilities that I hung up that has everybody on my team from when I won the championship in 2012. That was four years ago.

Of that picture, we're down to maybe 25, 30 percent of those people still on the team. That's been a big change over the last few years. Of course, we want to go out and keep winning in spite of that. But I think that's maybe the easiest way to showcase it.

Q. You talked about how this is typical Talladega. At what point does it get to a point where things maybe need to change? Cars got airborne, violent wrecks, multi-car wrecks. At some point, restrictor plate racing, enough is enough, we need to do some evaluation?

BRAD KESELOWSKI: I'm a capitalist. I love capitalism. There's still people paying to sit in the stands, sponsors still on the cars, drivers still willing to get in them. Sounds self-policing and enough interest to keep going, so we'll keep going.

Q. I'm sure you've been asked this in the past, especially here when you've won, but listening to you and Joey work together in this race today, it seems that he gives you a tremendous amount of information. When you consider all that goes on in this race, how difficult is it to monitor what's going on but also take in everything that he says?

BRAD KESELOWSKI: I mean, my spotter is definitely an all star for sure. We did as good a job as we've ever done working together today. Really proud of that effort.

Timing the runs here is so critical. His communication, his way of kind of verbalizing what he sees, is the key for me to be able to make the right moves on the racetrack.

I don't know. That might be hard to explain. Obviously I'm still holding the steering wheel. The information turns itself into the old 'knowledge is power' equation. You can have all the knowledge in the world, if you don't do anything with it, it doesn't matter.

It's a good 1-2 punch. Proud of him for his efforts today. We'll keep rolling on. It's a good way to go.

He's been part of three of the four Talladega wins, and I don't think that's a coincidence.

Q. This is your fourth victory here. It seems every one of them has some indelible moment of you being able to do superhuman things.

BRAD KESELOWSKI: I like the weird races here (smiling).

Q. They're weird, but you always seem to come out on top despite the odds. You're the top-finishing Ford and the next Ford is ninth. When we talk about restrictor plate races, I don't know if you get your due, but maybe your name should be at the top of the list. Does that matter to you?

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"] BRAD KESELOWSKI: Yeah, look, I'd rather be the guy that nobody talks about who has won here 10 times than the guy that everybody talks about who won here twice.

I never got into racing just to have somebody say my name real loud or the billboards or lights or anything like that. I got into it because I love it, I love the challenge. I love the reward of success, the reward internally.

Look, I'm not out here trying to toot my own horn or showcase my own press clippings. I just want to win. Winning four times means a lot here. It doesn't mean as much as winning another championship would be. That's my main goal at the end of the day. I found in this sport the more races you win, the easier it is to win championships.

Talladega has been a track for us that's been a great catalyst for success. I don't know why that is. It's a track where if you're capable of winning here, I think you show a certain level of attitude and swagger that carries your way through the rest of the year. It's just there in general.

I like that. But, hey, you know, if nobody wants to talk about it, I'm fine with that, too. I'd rather keep on winning and being up front.

THE MODERATOR: Brad, thanks for coming in and congratulations on your second win of the season.

BRAD KESELOWSKI: Appreciate it. Thanks, guys.

KYLE BUSCH – Second Place

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by our second-place finisher, Kyle Busch.

Kyle, tell us about your day out there.

KYLE BUSCH: It was all right, I guess. We had some decent speed, had a decent car. Just lucky, I guess, to come home with a top-five finish and be in second.

Our Skittles Camry was fast, but just wasn't in the right place at the right time. Brad being out front, not having a lot of formation behind me, never got enough momentum to get up to him or try to make a move on him. He was so far out protecting his lane, the race was pretty much his.

That's about it.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for Kyle.

Q. Kyle, why were there so many wrecks today?

KYLE BUSCH: I don't know. I'm not sure if guys thought weather was coming or something like that.

You know, it's just Talladega. It is what it is. These cars, you try to get a little bit aggressive, start bumping people and pushing people, they're real easy to get out of control.

I really don't know why we're bumping and pushing and everything else, because these cars, they go slower when you push. Makes a lot of sense. That's how stupid we are.

Q. Was it more aggressive than typical?

KYLE BUSCH: I didn't notice the aggressiveness picking up until about 40 to go or something like that, which is about typical. You're trying to get yourself in the right position at the right time in order to position yourself for that final pit stop. After that, it's pretty much 'game on'.

Q. You noted in the TV interview a high quota of cars airborne or upside down. I don't want to say 'fix' it, because it is not broken, but what is the solution to make it less of a demolition derby?

KYLE BUSCH: I don't have one. I don't have a solution. It's been this way for 30 years, so…

Stop complaining about it, I guess.

Q. Do you like it?

KYLE BUSCH: I hate it. I'd much rather sit at home. I got a win. I don't need to be here.

Q. This place is known for the carnage that we see out here. Are you kind of surprised at how many and how much there was today?

KYLE BUSCH: Today was definitely high. Just looking in my mirror, looking for that final restart, seeing the amount of cars behind me that didn't have damage, I think I probably counted four, and I was sixth. Maybe there was eight or ten of us that didn't have it seemed like some sort of bandage. Two of them in front of me had it on their cars.

About everybody had some sort of damage and was tore up. I don't think there was a car that came out of this place without needing the body all redone, all the time and effort that the guys do at the shop rebuilding it.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Kyle. Congratulations on the run today.

KYLE BUSCH: Thank you.

AUSTIN DILLON – Third Place

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by our third-place finisher, Austin Dillon.

Austin, talk to us a little bit about your run out there today.

AUSTIN DILLON: Well, there was a little bit of everything. It started out pretty good, running up front, moving around, chasing guys. Man, we had a fast car.

We got in that early wreck, when we were four-wide there with Jamie. Didn't work out.

So I'm just proud of my guys. Their shirts are probably working perfect today. Intellifresh is supposed to keep you smelling good and they worked their butts off. They had 15 stops. I'm sure that Intellifresh is still smelling fresh on those guys. They had 15 stops. They fixed the damage, never panicked.

That's something we struggled with this year, kind of panicking when something goes wrong. We've been meeting about it the last couple weeks. We can't lose our minds because sometimes it's just not your day.

When you think back, halfway through this race, you're not thinking it's your day. All of a sudden when it comes down to it, we kept our minds in it, kept working on the car, came home with a third-place finish.

Amazing to be part of a group of guys that work their tails off for me. I'm so proud of them. Man, fun day.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for Austin.

Q. It could be argued that some bullets were dodged today with cars flying around everywhere. We have roof flaps and other things. Anything else that can keep these cars down that should be tried?

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"] AUSTIN DILLON: I've been asked a couple times already what I think they should do. I'm not an aero guy. But I know with the smart people we have in NASCAR, all the companies, that we can probably do something to figure it out. We need to.

I went flying last year at Daytona, and that's not fun. For guys that haven't done it, it's just not a fun thing to be a part of.

I don't know how to fix it personally. I know NASCAR will put their efforts towards fixing it. I know they will. They've made the car safer. That's the reason why we're walking away from these crashes. I think as a group, all of us want it to be where we're not leaving the ground.

We'll get some smart people on it. I have total faith in NASCAR that they'll do their job and work on that. But, man, wild day.

Q. You mentioned you've been in wrecks like this. Are you able to enjoy your third-place finish or are you glad it's over with?

AUSTIN DILLON: Truthfully I don't know everything that happened yet, so I am really excited about my third-place finish because I know what our team went through today.

I did see a video of Allmendinger getting out, and looked pretty shook up. I hope everybody is all right from all these crashes. I haven't got a chance to look at all of them. I pray they're all all right.

I think we'll make some adjustments moving forward, like I said, to hopefully even safen [sic] up even more.

For me, I'm proud of our team. If you guys can see the car, if you go look at it, you would never expect it to get to third. I actually think with it being so draggy and beat up, the 1 car hooked to us at the end and he just pushed me all the way through three and four, gave me a heck of a run.

Once I left that air, thought, there wasn't much I was going to be able to do once that happened. It was my one shot off of turn four, I tried it. It was fun to be up front there at the end.

Q. You said it was wild and fun. There were two cars that were upside down at times today. How can it be both wild and fun?

AUSTIN DILLON: I've been on the wild side, if you remember my wreck last year. I know what it is. Today it didn't happen to me.

For us, fun was just watching my team work in the pits. I had guys climbing on the hood, beating the hood down. I had guys putting screws everywhere in the car to keep it together. It worked out for us.

I agree, I don't like those wrecks. I mean, I promise you, I have to put myself in a situation I don't want to be in to get into a good situation. You have to put yourself in bad situations that you wouldn't normally do to figure out how to get to the front.

That's where it all comes from. I don't know personally how to fix it. The only thing I can do is I know they've got new innovations they want to do to the cars to make them safer, like the foot box they've been working on.

As far as aero-wise, if we need to put something on the back of the car to keep them on the ground, I'm all for it. I'm all four keeping all four tires on the ground.

Hopefully we can have a solution by July. I think a lot of drivers will be, I guess, a lot more feeling better about it when we get there, if we can do something to keep the tires on the ground.

You'll have guys liking speedway racing more than we do. We all have to do it. I don't know how many really love it. But I know our moms and wives and girlfriends, they don't like it because they got to watch their loved ones put themselves in situations they don't like.

It's part of the game, speedway racing, always has been. Hopefully we can figure something out to help keep them on the ground.

Q. Is it fun if you don't wreck?

AUSTIN DILLON: If I don't wreck? Yeah. I thank the Lord every time I don't wreck. If it's fun that I don't wreck? I made it through it. I'm thankful really. Fun, like I said, was watching the guys put the work in on a damaged car.

We started 17th with three laps to go and finished third. So from 17th to third, that was pretty cool. One guy came up to me in the suite, said Dale's last win here, he came from 15th to first. Maybe if we started 15th, we could have got there.

Q. Is it ever galling for a driver that the amount and the spectacular nature of some of these crashes is part of the entertainment value for some fans?

AUSTIN DILLON: I try not to think of it that way. I've grown up in racing, watched a lot of bad crashes. I don't think they're true fans if they like the excitement. I think it's more of a, you know, person that doesn't really know what goes on.

We don't like to be a part of crashes. It's not what our job is, is to crash. Our job is to compete and have fun out there and put on a show.

Putting on a show, in that crashes happen. I don't think of it that way. I think people, if they're cheering for crashes, man, it's not a good thing.

THE MODERATOR: Austin, thanks, congratulations on the run today.

AUSTIN DILLON: Thanks, guys.