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Keselowski looks for mercy following Truck team's mishap

Like any team owner, Brad Keselowski is hoping to beat the potential penalty facing his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team.

Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski Racing Ford

Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski Racing Ford

Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images

Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski Racing Ford
Brad Keselowski, Team Penske Ford
Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski Racing Ford makes a pit stop, Sunoco
Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski Racing Ford, Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski Racing Ford
Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski Racing Ford makes a pit stop, Sunoco
Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski Racing Ford

Whether the organization will suffer sanctions stemming from a miscue on the No. 29 truck’s pit stop at Dover International Speedway on Friday remains to be seen.

Rookie Chase Briscoe hit the gas when he felt the jack drop during a pit stop under the eighth caution in the Camping World Truck Series race. Unfortunately, the lug nuts weren’t secure on his left front wheel. Before Briscoe, who was the polesitter, completed a lap the tire rolled off of his truck.

The infraction

Under the Camping World Truck Series’ Minimum Safety Penalty Options (12.5.2.6.3.c) — “Loss of wheel(s) due to improper installation will result in a mandatory minimum four Race suspension of the crew chief and tire changer and tire carrier of the lost wheel(s).”

Keselowski had previously expressed his feelings on the issue with NASCAR prior to speaking to the media on Saturday afternoon at Dover.

“When it comes to issues like this, I try to always step back and see it from a bigger picture and I hope NASCAR does as well,” Keselowski said. “At the end of the day intent matters. The intent of the rule was to make sure guys don’t put three lug nuts on and have a wheel come off and say, ‘Aw, too bad’. That isn’t what happened in the scenario we had. So I think the rule’s intent maybe covers something that didn’t happen.

“On the other side of it I think the intent of our team on the Truck series and the issue was not to tighten up three lug nuts and have blistering-fast pit stop. It was a mistake. And we discussed those scenarios. It’s the difference between murder and manslaughter. Intent matters. Certainly, we’re glad that nobody got hurt or there wasn’t any of those types of issues. It doesn’t excuse that kind of stuff.”

Competing today

For Keselowski, who has supported truck teams since 2008, the challenge of maintaining a grassroots operation has been daunting at times. Brad Keselowski Racing’s ability to provide opportunities for development drivers and personnel over the last decade — with little outside support — has been admirable.

“It’s tough scenario for me personally, because as an owner over there, we somewhat pride ourselves in not using Cup driver and Cup pit crews and all those things,” Keselowski said. “What I’m looking for out of that endeavor and that series is to develop people and give back to the sport. It’s not really giving back to the sport if I put a Cup driver in or hire a Cup pit crew. That’s really not giving back to the sport at all.

“But on the flip side when you have issues like we had, which is a pit crew that is still developing and inexperienced...they made a mistake. When you have an issue like that which endorses a penalty, that is as costly as that one is according to the current rule, you have to step back and ask yourself, ‘If I had a Cup pit crew, would that have happened?’ And the answer is probably ‘No’. So I think the penalties in those series have to be reflective of what they are, they’re developmental series. That was a developmental issue. A guy who really learned a tough lesson.”

The ramifications of a serious penalty

Per NASCAR rules, Keselowski would have to replace crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. along with his left tire carrier and changer for at least the next four races. A hit of that nature might prove more than costly. It could prove detrimental to BKR.

“If the penalty is very severe, very harsh, that’s the end of developmental pit crews for my team,” Keselowski said. “We can’t take that. We can’t afford that and that will have serious ramifications for the series and the ability to develop people.

“It’s a tough question. It’s a tough box that NASCAR is put in to try and enforce rules that are pretty much black and white. They have a tough call to make that will have serious ramifications both in the series we compete and but also as a precedent for all three series.”

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