Brad Keselowski is almost ready for his 17th run at the Daytona 500 after getting the green light to race. He was still moving through the garage with a cane ahead of Wednesday’s practice. He sat out the Clash at Bowman Gray while rehabbing a leg injury from a skiing trip, but now he is back in the saddle and ready to take his shot.
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Also, the broken femur did more than slow him down. It stopped him in his tracks and forced him to stare down thoughts he never expected. In January, he did not know if he would walk again, let alone strap into a race car. He told himself he would put in the work and live with whatever hand he was dealt, but doubt crept in. Naturally, when someone’s world shrinks to a hospital room, the mind can run wild.
During rehab that stretched past six hours a day, he gained a new lens on pain and on those who have faced it in far harsher settings. Lying on the ground after the break, unable to move, his thoughts drifted to soldiers from the Civil War.
“When I was laying on the ground, and I was completely immobile immediately after I broke my leg, what was going through my mind was like, ‘Oh my God — think about the soldiers in the Civil War. They would just cut their leg off right here.’”
He understood the grim logic in that moment. “And I understood why they would do it because it hurt so bad. It was by far the worst pain I ever went through. I get why they would bring out the hacksaw. There was part of me that’s like, ‘That might actually feel better.’”
Just as soldiers push forward despite pain because duty calls, in his own way, Keselowski also felt that pull. He admits he is not at full strength with a healing femur, yet once he climbs into the car, something clicks.
He said the seat fits him like a glove, the adrenaline kicks in, and for a while, the pain takes a back seat. After Wednesday’s practice, he felt steady and is set to qualify for the race.
But it’s not that he has gained sympathy or relatability towards the soldiers after he got hurt. Keselowski has long held respect for service members. After this injury, that respect just cut deeper. His bond with the military did not start with this injury.
He founded the Brad Keselowski Checkered Flag Foundation to support veterans and their families, including those who returned home with wounds. Over the years, he has carried the names of service members on his car through his “Tribute to Veterans” program, especially around Memorial Day and race weekends with a patriotic theme.
The RFK Racing owner has visited bases such as Camp Grayling, trained alongside soldiers, and spent time at firing ranges. He has invited injured veterans to tracks and strapped them into cars for rides that give them a taste of speed. It’s just that after facing his own stretch of pain, he found common ground in a new way.
