Brad Keselowski likes the idea of specific track-type rules
As NASCAR starts the process of putting together different rules for specific types of tracks, it can count Brad Keselowski as a fan of the initiative.
The Sprint Cup Series is running a lower downforce package for Saturday night's race at Kentucky. The cars have smaller splitters and spoilers. At Indianapolis and Michigan, the cars will have bigger leading edges of the splitters and larger spoilers to increase the drag and promote passing on the straightaways.
"I’m in that camp and on that team that says that’s what’s gonna take our sport to the next level as far as the quality of racing is concerned is developing genre-specific packages for the tracks with the realization that when the Car of Tomorrow and the Generation 6 car came out, I think it was designed to perform at a higher level at the plate tracks and, in some way, whether it was intentional or not, the road courses and we’ve seen the road course races and the plate tracks in that time – the last seven or eight years – kind of turn into some of what I think most of the industry and its fans would recognize as the best racing our sport has to offer right now," Keselowski said.
Road course races have certainly become must-see TV in the Cup Series. The races at Watkins Glen have been some of the most memorable in recent NASCAR history. And while many people can debate the authenticity of pack racing at Daytona and Talladega, there's no arguing that it's incredibly tense.
But NASCAR has been searching for the right combination at intermediate tracks, the tracks that dominate the schedule. Restrictor plate and road course races are only six of the season's 36 races.
Keselowski has won two of the last three races at Kentucky. He's confident about his chances of three in four, even with the new rules. While he has a win at California earlier in the season
"I look at it as one of those places that we kind of circle on the calendar for our team," Keselowski said. "I saw something pretty interesting that this is the last mile-and-a-half before the Chase starts. That just really hit me hard because to win the championship you have to win the mile-and-a-halves. The championship is the mile-and-a-halves. Literally, the last race is a mile-and-a-half. Every bracket has a mile-and-a-half in it. If you’re going to win the championship, you have to win the mile-and-a-halves and this is the last one before the Chase.
"Whoever is strong here this weekend, this is really their last chance to work and evolve into a spec or an iteration for their team to showcase strengths for what’s gonna count in a championship stretch. So I think that hit me really hard and, for that reason, we’re looking for some really big things out of the 2 car this weekend"
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!