In a quest for ‘passing,’ NASCAR may have created more spaces for ‘crashing.’ Tensions are rife as we go into the final Round of 12 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This would shave off four drivers from the playoff grid, so teams are at the peak of planning their strategies. But this year’s Roval race is throwing an extra challenge their way. The newly reconfigured turns at the 1.5-mile speedway are boggling drivers’ minds—except for Brad Keselowski.

The RFK Racing co-owner’s rivals have already harped on the risks of the revamped road course. According to Denny Hamlin, driving into the now-infamous Turn 7 would be like driving into a “parking lot.” But this “chaos” feels like a breeze for Keselowski.

Brad Keselowski brushes off the Roval challenge

Speedway Motorsports debuted the Roval in 2018 as a variation to the traditional 1.5-mile oval. The original layout had its fair share of chaos, but drivers felt that it did not boast enough passing zones. But now the Roval sports two ‘passing’ zones, which are more like ‘crashing’ zones. The changes start at Turn 5 with a high-speed downhill corkscrew, then a new Turn 6 with an elevation change, and finally into a tight left-handed Turn 7 in what is essentially a 180-degree turn onto the banked oval. Despite owning just a lone top-five finish at the Roval in 2019, Brad Keselowski is not bothered by these daunting changes.

Denny Hamlin flatly declared prior to the Bank of America Roval 400, “The reconfigure was designed to create more chaos. You’re going to have to convince me otherwise of that.” Brad Keselowski agreed with him about the challenge, comparing the Roval with Watkins Glen. “It is definitely as violent to me. Yeah, maybe even slightly more.” Drivers complained about going over the curb at the bus stop of the Watkins Glen track. Similarly, during practice and qualifying for the Roval, drivers were launching off the turtles or six-inch high rumble strips used in chicanes.

Martin Truex Jr. equated the rumbling feeling to getting a concussion every time he went over the chicanes. He even had a disappointing qualifier, slated to start 30th in the race. But Brad Keselowski giggled a bit when he learned about Truex’s concussion feeling. He also commented lightheartedly on the reconfiguration: “Yeah, I mean, get head upside the head, it doesn’t feel good. I don’t know, at some point, that’s the deal I guess…Oh, it doesn’t feel good, no. But I don’t know if it’s supposed to.”

Maybe his early ejection from the playoffs is the cause for Keselowski’s relaxed stance. However, the RFK Racing driver and co-owner is also not bothered about the NASCAR lawsuit.

Keselowski is not so interested in fighting

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When Denny Hamlin and Bob Jenkins found themselves alone, they were surprised. 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports were the only teams who abstained from signing NASCAR’s new charter deal. But the teams that did lay down reasons for doing so. For instance, Rick Hendrick proclaimed that he was “tired” of continuing the negotiation for two years. Brad Keselowski also claimed that NASCAR did not coerce them to sign and that he was just glad to keep things rolling for his team. “Forced is a really strong term, but we are getting to a spot where it’s important to get these things settled… We’re glad that the economics are improved and to go with where the media landscape has moved,” he said.

Then Michael Jordan, Hamlin, and Jenkins filed a lawsuit, accusing NASCAR of monopolistic practices. The ball in this court case will start rolling on Wednesday, when the first hearing is supposed to be held. Even amidst this escalating tension, Keselowski chose to stay out of the drama. When asked for comment on the lawsuit, he said in a detached manner: “We’re always going to be fighting over a piece of the pie. … I just want peace. I want our entire industry to become laser-focused on growing the sport and creating incentives where we all win when that happens.”

Brad Keselowski’s nonchalant approach on and off the racetrack is heavily apparent. Let us see how well he tackles the reconfigured Roval challenge on Sunday.