Brad Keselowski Warns NASCAR of Looming Issues: ‘Needs to Be Solved’

Brad Keselowski has raised an urgent alarm over a critical safety issue confronting NASCAR: cars getting airborne during races. Speaking before the Southern 500 at Darlington, Keselowski made it clear that this problem demands immediate attention from NASCAR’s engineering teams.

“I don’t like it. Nobody likes to come off the ground. I think that’s fairly self-explanatory, but there’s a lot of factors that go into it. I’m not the engineer to solve the problem. But I’m smart enough to know it’s one that needs to be solved,” Keselowski told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports.

The issue of cars flipping has recently been spotlighted by several frightening incidents. In Michigan, Corey LaJoie experienced a terrifying flip, and at the Daytona race, multiple cars, including Josh Berry’s No. 4 Ford, ended up flipping, too.

Berry’s car turned over and collided with the inside wall while inverted, fortunately leaving the driver unhurt. These scary incidents have led to an increased focus on the safety of these cars.

NASCAR has already initiated some preventive steps in response to these dangerous scenarios. One such change was the removal of the backstretch grass at Daytona, a measure aimed at mitigating the risk of cars flipping after digging into the dirt. Additionally, a new right-side rear-window air deflector has been introduced to help keep cars grounded aerodynamically.

Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Competition, acknowledged the complexity of the situation.

“It’s a complicated situation there when you’re running the speeds that we’re running. And you put multiple cars close together and how they affect each other.

“Our guys in the back, I know they’ve been working since Saturday night to kind of recreate all that. And still some additional work on our side to be done,” Sawyer explained.

Adding to the conversation, driver Bubba Wallace shared his insights during an appearance on The Dale Jr. Download podcast.

“Cars go fast, they’re going to flip. Knock on wood, I’ve never flipped in my career, I’ve gotten close. It has been kind of crazy the last two weeks. We’ve seen four flips now, three on the Cup side. It’s just being in the wrong spot at the wrong time, being in a bad spot,” Wallace said. Of course, other variables come into play like weather, to a degree.

“We had a massive headwind in Michigan. That plays a factor. I think LaJoie is the only one where it’s like, ‘What happened there?’ The other stuff is what we’ve seen years down the road. Simple enough, don’t crash, don’t flip.”