Mansfield: Brad Keselowski preview

Keselowski Taking Martinsville Lessons to Mansfield Short Track: Brad Keselowski made his debut in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at one of the toughest tracks on the 25-race circuit, Martinsville Speedway. This weekend he will take many of the lessons that he acquired in those 231 laps to one of the newest tracks on the circuit, the .44-mile Mansfield Motorsports Speedway in Mansfield, Ohio. Keselowski, a resident of Rochester Hills, Michigan is looking forward to the opportunity to be on somewhat equal ground with the other NCTS competitors.

"I'm pretty excited about running at Mansfield," said Keselowski. "Now that I have my first race behind me I feel like I was able to learn a lot about running with these drivers and the handling of the truck on these short tracks. I also consider it to be an advantage that this is a new race track for everyone. Other than a couple of drivers that have raced Late Models at this race track, we will all be on even footing with the open test day that we will have on the race track Friday."

Keselowski entered his first NCTS event at Martinsville Speedway with high expectations. The 20-year old son of team owners Bob and Kay Keselowski qualified his No. 29 Ford F-150 in the 26th starting position and quickly moved up in the field before a pit road mishap caused damage to the front of his truck forcing the team to make major adjustments to the handling throughout the race. Keselowski was able to complete nearly all of the laps in the event as well as take valuable lessons regarding passing and adjustments in race trucks on to the next short track event.

"Martinsville was certainly not a bad run considering it was my first NCTS event," said Keselowski. "Although I did not meet my own expectations of the event, I know that I experienced a lot of 'rookie' issues during the race and I am just hoping that I got most of them out of the way before Mansfield. Being out on the race track with these competitors allows me to see what works for them and adapt that information into my truck and how I can get faster."

The UAW-GM Ohio 250 will mark the first time a NASCAR touring series has competed in the state of Ohio in 50 years. The race will take the green flag at 2:30pm on Sunday, May 16 and coverage will begin on Speed Channel live at 2:00pm ET.

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