Brad Keselowski Enlists Racing Genes in His 2-YO as He Prepares to Carry On His Racing Legacy

When racing is in your blood, nothing can stop you. Brad Keselowski hails from a long line of racers, going way back to his grandfather John who raced motorcycles in the 1950s. His wife Paige also belongs to a racing family based in North Carolina. So where do you think their children would frequent the most? That would be the racing garage shop, of course!

Brad Keselowski is father to three adorable children, with a fourth coming soon. His youngest is his son Maize, born in November 2023. Despite his puny size and short time on this earth, the little boy is already showing interest in the family trade.

For NASCAR drivers, the car shop is like a shrine indeed. It is where all the magic happens ahead of a race weekend. Bob and Ron Keselowski had to work in their father John’s shop before they could carve out careers of their own. Bob went on to clinch 24 ARCA Menards Series races and the 1997 Craftsman Truck Series championship. Similarly, Brad Keselowski started off on a similar note, working for his family’s team. Under his father’s guidance, it all paid off as Keselowski clinched the 2012 Cup Series championship besides accruing numerous race victories.

The RFK Racing team owner envisages a similar future for his children. And Brad Keselowski‘s son, Maize, is all for entertaining the racing gene. Posting two pictures on X, Keselowski showed his tiny toddler taking his first steps in the family’s late model shop. Maize was gazing intently up at his grandfather Louis White – Paige’s dad and former stock car driver – as the latter worked on a car engine. This scene heart-warmed Brad, who encouraged fans to suggest how to instill the racing passion early. He wrote, “My son Maize hanging with Grandpa at the late model shop this week for spring break feels like a good opportunity for…Caption this.”

Maize’s other grandpa, Bob Keselowski, passed away in 2021. He is remembered for being a hardworking mentor for Brad, instilling essential values of work ethic in his son. Although back pain and a pinched nerve in the hip forced him to retire from racing in the late 1990s, Bob continued to be a dynamic team owner.

He was not disheartened even after his team folded in 2006, believing in his family’s future. “I just think that God had a way bigger plan than we had…My goal was to have a strong enough company where both my sons could race and they would run the operation.”

As someone who grew up in the racing system, Brad Keselowski knows how difficult things can be. “I knew what I wanted to do way before I got into high school or even while I was in middle school. I was committed to going down the path — whatever it took — and I wasn’t going to let anything else get in my way.” Spending most of his time in his grandfather’s workshop, his childhood was far from normal, and it’s something he knows can happen to his children.

“School was tough for me because as a young kid, I grew up in race shops. I didn’t spend a lot of time around other kids. I actually spent very little time around other kids. And so, to fit in, I always felt like I was being forced to be more of an adult than I was ready to be. Because of that, I never got caught up in your high school or juvenile social system where you have the preppy kids or the jocks. I never got caught up in that because I knew what I wanted to do. I really didn’t care about those social circles,” he explained.

Now, Brad Keselowski is starting to think about his own children’s future. But first things first – tackling the challenges.

The scariest thing beyond the racetrack

NASCAR can be a dangerous and nerve-racking sport. Maneuvering heavy stock cars at 200 mph speeds can be a daunting task. Throw in the various types of racetracks that the sport offers, and you might be overloaded with stress every week in preparation. Although there are a lot of things to fear in NASCAR, Brad Keselowski is used to all of it. Across two decades of racing, he accrued 36 Cup Series race wins. Those include marquee events like the Coca-Cola 600, Brickyard 400, and Southern 500 races. Besides his extensive experience, Keselowski’s homely tasks also make him forget the ravages of the racetrack.

Before the Daytona 500, Brad and Paige Keselowski announced that they were expecting a fourth child soon. This time quite busy in the Keselowski household – and the racer dreads one thing the most. “You’ll get a chuckle out of this. So, I have three kids. My youngest two, one is five and one is one, every once in a while, they will get in the shower together, and my one-year-old will lose control of his bowels, and I will hear them yelling, ‘Dad!’ And that’s when I’m like, ‘Oh no. I’ve got to go clean up the shower.’ That is, right now, my number one fear.”

And if this instance wasn’t enough to show you how good of a father Keselowski is, let’s go back to the time when Gluck asked him if he would have a watermelon. Keselowski had replied, “I got sick off of watermelon when I was a kid and I’ve never eaten it since. You know how you have foods that once you get sick on them, you can’t eat them again? Well, mine was watermelon. You can’t touch it. It’s like you have this mental predisposition. But my kids love it, if that makes you feel any better. They’ll eat either kind and I’ll serve them either kind, but I don’t eat watermelon.”

More such fun stories are sure to pop up in the household, as a fourth brat is on the way. Maybe in the future, garage stories will also be on the line for Brad Keselowski.