Brad Keselowski: Florida Dodge Dealers 250 preview

Brad Keselowski will make his first career start at the historic Daytona International Speedway Friday night in the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 driving his No. 29 SUBcrews.com Ford F-150. Keselowski, who recently turned 21 years old, will compete in his family's K Automotive Motorsports truck hoping to continue their streak of top ten finishes at the famed speedway.

"I have definitely put pressure on myself for this race," said Keselowski. "Our team has always run well at this track and with this being our first race of the season with SUBcrews.com on the side of our truck I am focused on making this a very successful week for everyone involved. I am really hoping for a good run to start this season as well as gain some experience in the draft with the other competitors. The tricky part to being a rookie at Daytona will be getting help in the draft from other drivers. They tend to be nervous about working with a rookie, but I think maybe I was able to gain some respect from them last season and that will help me here in the event."

Keselowski and his K Automotive team tested at Daytona during the open test session in January where the No. 29 SUBcrews.com Ford posted the third fastest time for much of the session both in the draft and alone on the race track. Once all of the trucks had been on the race track, Keselowski was credited with the 11th fastest position on the session. Truck selection for this week's event is 'Two-Dog', a favorite for Keselowski and a truck which was very successful for the team throughout much of the 2004 season.

"After the test session we were able to find some things on the truck that I think we could improve upon," said Keselowski. "Getting the new motor ready for the race will increase our speed and I think the most important thing for the race will be staying smart and trying to stay out of trouble. Of course I would like to continue the K Automotive streak at Daytona and bring home a top ten finish for the first race of the season and that is my goal for event."