American Racing News Vol 1, Issue 2 Issue 4 | Page 12

KESELOWSKI TRIES TEAM PENSKE INDY CAR
Story and Photos | INDYCAR.COM

Brad Keselowski took a day off from
his regular job as a Team Penske NASCAR driver to hop into Simon Pagenaud’s No. 22 Verizon Team
Penske Chevrolet for a few exciting
laps around the scenic 4.048-mile
permanent road course.
“I’ve always wanted to drive an Indy
car, I think (Penske Racing President)
Tim Cindric knew that," Keselowski
said. "The opportunity came up to
dip my toes in the water and kind of
expand my knowledge base and put
it in the back of my mind for wherever it goes, I don’t know. But it was a
heck of an opportunity and I’m glad
to have a chance.”
Pagenaud shook down the car for his
teammate before the late-afternoon
run by the Indy car newcomer.

“First thing I told Simon is he has a
very secure job, at least from me,"
Keselowski said after the test. "I’ve
got a lot of respect for him and his
team, everyone at Team Penske. This
22 Menards team, they did a great
job today and I had a lot of fun going
with them. Simon was fast, really fast
and gave me a good rabbit to chase. I
learned a ton today and had a lot of
fun. I’ve got to let it soak in here to
think about all of it."

“I’ve always wanted
to drive an Indy car”
Keselowski appreciated early on the
differences in handling and braking
between the Indy car and stock car.
“(The Indy car) sure was getting in
the corners a lot deeper," he said. "I

12 | American Racing News | NASCAR / IndyCar

think the Indy car just pulls so many
G’s through the center of the corner
and in the brake zone. You have to
build confidence in it because the
stock car does everything it can to
wreck your confidence and in the Indy car it’s important to have confidence. So you have to kind of unlearn
everything you learned in a stock car
to be good in these cars. That’s a heck
of a process but a fun one.
“It’s certainly a different feel, trying
to get acclimated to a different seat
and you lean back more. I was kind of
sitting in Simon’s seat and it doesn’t
always fit you perfect, so it wears you
out pretty quick. But it’s a good way
to get worn out.”