Keselowski explains 'Bottle-gate'

   Brad Keselowski was shown on ESPN footage tossing a water bottle out of his car during Saturday night's Nationwide race at Atlanta. At first, ESPN thought the bottle may have been the cause for a caution on Lap 184. It wasn't - ESPN later showed footage of the debris which did bring out the caution. But the damage was done.

   Keselowski was asked to explain what happened after the race:

   "If the water bottle would have been the cause for the yellow it went out of my car 15 to 20 laps before the yellow came out. I don’t know verbatim what lap it was or specifically what lap it was. I guess that’s why I was caught off guard with the comments about the water bottle causing a yellow. I don’t know why the yellow’s come out. The yellow’s come out all the time in the race without an explanation. It is what it is. That’s not a question for me; it’s a question for everybody that runs the show. I’m sure they felt there was a reason; they threw the yellow, that’s their right. That’s their job as the sanctioning body of NASCAR, any questions to that need to go to them," he said.

   "Do I feel guilty for throwing a water bottle out of my car? No. Everybody throws that stuff out the car. You watch on Lap 15 or 20 when the sun went down, tear-offs and water bottles go out of every single car. That’s how racing works. If you go down on the infield at these tracks after the race I’m sure that you’ll find water bottles. NASCAR knows that, and if they decide to throw a yellow that’s their prerogative, but most times they don’t. That’s their call. I can’t speak for NASCAR. I’m not going to say that I didn’t throw a water bottle. Heck ya, I threw about three of them out through the course of the race and I do every race and will continue to do so. I think most of the field will so I don’t know how the two are linked together without NASCAR saying so. 

   "The questions need to go to (them) or Kevin’s questions do, not to me. I can understand Kevin being frustrated. I’d be frustrated too. I was very frustrated after Watkins Glen when I had the dominant car and didn’t win. But you know sometimes in racing you do everything right and it just doesn’t work out. If you’re not mad about it you’re not a racer. So how can I sit here and bash Kevin? Kevin is a racer; he had the best car and didn’t win. If he wasn’t mad as hell I’d personal be mad at him because that’s his job and that’s why he’s a great racer. Just give his some time. He’ll figure out the situation with NASCAR and cooler heads will prevail. That’s just the way it is.”