There's pressure and then there's pressure.
Brad Keselowski is making his first appearance in the Chase for the Sprint Cup in just his second full season of running in the series. That sounds like a lot of pressure.
But as Keselowski pointed out this week, that pales in comparison to what it took for him to make it to this level in NASCAR and he hopes that journey has prepared him for the journey which lies ahead in the next 10 races.
"There was a lot of pressure (when I started out). Quite honestly, I look back earlier at launching my career and think about how much harder they were than what this is. To me this is a cakewalk. I mean, I know it’s not going to be easy to win the Chase but from a pressure standpoint I really don’t feel any. I felt pressure when I got the opportunities to drive for Dale Jr., to drive for Rick [Hendrick], and drive for Roger Penske and Miller Lite. That was the pressure to me, was kind of proving that we belong," Keselowski said.
"I think of the last two weeks and hopefully the last two seasons that I’ve been able to somewhat prove that. And now it’s out there just doing what we do, trying to get a nice smooth rhythm just like Kurt (Busch) talked about. I still have a lot to prove, don’t get me wrong, but the hardest pressure point was trying to prove that I even deserved a shot, so very thankful for the opportunities that I have now and hopefully, those moments are what will make me even more prepared for this moment here.”
