NASCAR’s Circuit of the Americas race was memorable for many reasons. Kyle Busch dominated the race for 42 laps, showing signs of winning. But then Christopher Bell ‘respectfully’ overtook him and charged to the victory. Most recognized drivers of the race saw their names climb up and down the leaderboard with due progress of time. While the spectrum seemed vibrant for all of them, including the dark and the light, a certain racer-owner was struggling to set his foot firmly in the race.

Brad Keselowski wheeled his No. 6 RFK Racing Ford to a 26th-place starting spot. But his poor qualifying was the least of his problems. Keselowski always has a difficult time maneuvering around a road course. But, this time, the problems were not skill or luck, it was all technical- A problem which could have landed him in critical condition.

Brad Keselowski had to lie down post-race

Brad Keselowski owns seven top-fives in road courses and none of them were at COTA. His best finish was 14th at the Austin, Texas racetrack in 2022. This past Sunday, Keselowski put up his second-best finish – but with the odds stacked heavily against him. According to post-race reports, the 2012 Cup Series champion’s cooling suit failed mid-race. This was a detrimental problem, as temperatures in Austin were around 80 degrees. The racetrack’s surface hovered around 100 degrees.

RFK Racing updated on his condition on X: “After his cool suit failed during today’s race, @keselowski went to the infield care center to get some IV fluids. Can confirm he is feeling much better now. 👍🏻” However, a NASCAR journalist wanted to get more details about Brad Keselowski‘s conditions. “Update on driver Brad Keselowski …I had heard something on the radio about the “6” (NASCAR uses car numbers instead of driver’s names) needing medical assistance but didn’t know if they were referring to pit stall # or Brad so wanted to refrain from assuming.”

According to NASCAR, Brad Keselowski’s cooling system failed mid-race. Despite that, the No. 6 driver kept wheeling his car and brought it to a remarkable 15th-place finish. After exiting his race, though, the 41-year-old racer had to lie down on a stretcher – from where he was carried to pit road. A picture of Keselowski lying on the stretcher with a wet cloth on his face was shared by a NASCAR fan on Reddit. Crew members from his team as well as other teams came to help. Thankfully, reports claimed that his condition improved after receiving intravenous fluids.

However, fans across the NASCAR community were left shocked at this news. It was in the shadows after Christopher Bell’s ecstatic victory.

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NASCAR fans express their concerns for Keselowski

A cool suit failure has happened before in the sport. Last year, during the Xfinity race at Nashville Superspeedway, Riley Herbst faced the same dilemma. He unplugged the suit and marinated in the hot water in 95-degree heat. However, Brad Keselowski’s case was more severe, as one fan commented on his stretcher photo on Reddit. “That picture made my heart drop when I was scrolling. I know the coolsuit thing happens and he should be ok, but I hope we see an update soon.” Unlike Herbst who powered through his ordeal and emerged okay, Keselowski was visibly dehydrated. That left one fan very worried: “S—, that… that’s dehydration. Not good. Hope he makes it out okay.”

Some people reported concerning additions to Brad Keselowski’s dilemma. Apparently, his power steering also failed. William Byron faced such an issue during last year’s Chicago Street Race, for which he was penalized. Imagining Keselowski using all his strength to drive while his cooling suit failed, shuddered some fans. Somebody wrote, “From what I heard not only did his cool suit failed, he lost power steering. Try to imagine using all your arm strength in a road course while you drive a two ton metal coffin with no cooling.” With this double trouble descending on the No. 6 car, Brad Keselowski was still unfazed. Somebody commended his superior racing skills: “And he still finished 15th. Bad Brad still has what it takes and then some.”

Christopher Bell’s victory was definitely spectacular. Yet even amidst celebrating his third road course victory, some people wondered why the broadcasters did not bother to report Brad Keselowski’s condition. One fan wrote, “Thanks for some sort of update. I was watching his incar and saw him immediately pull over after the start finish and back onto pit road but I didn’t hear anything was wrong with him. How tf do they just ignore that in the booth? Asinine. Hope he’s alright.”

Evidently, the NASCAR community is very worried about Brad Keselowski. Hopefully, the Cup Series racer will recover well enough before the next weekend.