Brad Keselowski hires brother Brian to replace injured Theriault

Brian is the older brother of the 2012 Sprint Cup champion and will pilot a truck owned by Brad, which was revealed on his blog Thursday.

"This is the opportunity I've waited for my entire career,” Brian Keselowski told Motorsport.com. "I have never had this kind of chance in NASCAR before. To get to drive in the truck series for the first time, in the 29 truck no less, is a dream come true."

The opportunity to drive the No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford F-150 arose after a scary accident at Las Vegas left usual driver Austin Theriault with a compression fracture in his lower back. The elder Keselowski has three starts at the Cup level and 63 in the Xfinity Series, but none in the Trucks.

Brotherly love

"In his eyes, I’ll always be his little brother no matter what I do," Brad Keselowski said in his blog post. "Our paths haven’t necessarily crossed in a way where would have been able to do something like this before now. The BKR Truck Team is really a program for developing younger drivers, and Brian just turned 34 last month. And quite honestly, I’m not sure either of us was mature enough to deal with each other in a way productive way earlier in our careers.

"But we’re trying now, and I’m glad we are. We’re in a positive place where we can help each other out. He wants to do it, and I want to do it. I’m excited by the idea of having him race for us. He gets to drive the truck that finished fourth at Daytona in the spring. I’m looking for him to have a safe day, first and foremost, and beyond that, to run up front, and make the most of the opportunity.

"He’s got a good team that could win the race, and he knows that, too."

Brian has spent the good part of this year as a crew chief for ARCA driver Matt Kurzejewski, but has also made three starts himself, highlighted by a fourth-place finish at Berlin Raceway in August. He's also scored three victories in the ARCA Racing Series.

One of the most memorable moments of his racing career came in the qualifying race at Daytona in 2011. With a helpful push from brother Brad, he finished fifth and raced his way into the Daytona 500.