Keselowski buttoned-down in new role with Penske (cont'd)

Keselowski said he didn't recall the sequence of events that placed him in the 12 this weekend, but that "this deal was not necessarily a this-week decision. It certainly was something that I was supportive of, whether or not it was Mr. Penske's idea or [whose] idea it was -- I can't remember [because] it's a blur.

"All in all I think it's the right move and it's what we need to go into the offseason and know where we stand."

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This is a good way to get off on the right foot, to have three races and then a full winter to address whatever things we feel like we need to address.

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-- BRAD KESELOWSKI

Keselowski will also finish the season's last three races driving the No. 88 Chevrolet -- which currently sits third in the Nationwide championship -- for JR Motorsports. He's irritated some people in the process of getting there, which he's done via four wins, 20 top-five and 26 top-10 finishes in 32 races.

"In my mind, as a race car driver when you feel like you no longer have something to prove, you don't belong here," Keselowski said of his willingness to stand his ground. "That's the way I am, and whether or not I win this weekend or never win in the Penske car, I will continue to feel like I have something to prove."

But he's also earned a degree of respect, which he said has been magnified in the last week. Last Sunday, a badly-timed push-draft wrecked future teammate Kurt Busch in front of the field at Talladega.

Less than two days later, Busch publicly made sure there was no mistaking his allegiance to his new teammate. And Friday, Keselowski made no bones about how much Busch's words meant to him.

"It means he's committed to this program, and seeing it work," Keselowski said. "And that he's committed to the fact that a teammate's help is what he needs to succeed, so it's cool that he's been very respectful to me, and it means a lot."

Keselowski shared a plane ride to Daytona Beach, Fla., with new teammates Busch and Sam Hornish Jr. and said they worked a lot on easing communication and how Penske Racing's various processes worked. Keselowski acknowledged he feels he has work to do.

"I think I have something to prove as it pertains to credibility, but that's for [the team] to judge," Keselowski said, chuckling. "But I'm not going to come in and be quiet, that's for sure. We want to go to Daytona next year and be competitive and have [the media] say we'll be contenders for the Chase -- that's the goal and these three races are our chance to build that momentum.

"I've got a brand new firesuit and a brand new race car, and I've never had a team build me a brand new race car for my first race, so that's awesome."

Keselowski said he's really looking forward to drawing on Busch's experience.

"Kurt's biggest resource is that he's extremely talented -- that's his No. 1 resource," Keselowski said through a wide grin. "I've seen things in him that I don't see in any other driver out there right now, and that's his biggest resource.

"Certainly there are some things that he brings as far as knowing how to work with the [Penske] group, and what's a good way to work with them and what's not, just from experience. And he's a Cup champion! Man, people don't give him the credit he deserves for that, much like they don't give Jimmie [Johnson] the credit he deserves for his accomplishments."

Keselowski's accomplishments in Cup, which include a victory in only his fifth start -- early this season and ironically at Talladega -- remain to be accrued.

As Friday's on-track action began, the situation seemed to ooze potential. Keselowski burst out of the box and was immediately quick, despite having almost no idea how it had occurred.

"We slightly exceeded expectations on my end, for sure," Keselowski said. "It was great, the first time I got in the car and drove it off in the corner, I said 'wow, this thing drives way better here.' But then there were two or three other areas where it was way worse [than the Chevrolets he'd previously driven in Sprint Cup]."

Keselowski stressed that he didn't feel like he was a solution to any Penske weaknesses, but that he would be part of the solution with the rest of the team.

"I think I have some of the Penske organization's respect because of where I come from -- not necessarily because of what I've done," Keselowski said of his previous experience racing and testing Hendrick Motorsports cars. "So this is a good opportunity for all of us to just push the reset button and say what's good and what's bad."

In the end, Keselowski was ninth on the 90-minute practice chart. But a reality check struck in qualifying when Keselowski fell to 35th on the grid for Sunday's Dickies 500.

Of the eight drivers in front of him in practice, everyone picked up in qualifying except Jeff Burton, whose qualifying run was his first lap in his back-up car after he wrecked his primary late in practice.

"The run felt awesome -- I thought I did a good job and thought I had a good lap [so] I'm surprised the speed wasn't better than that," Keselowski said. "That's OK. It's part of the learning process of what we're trying to do. We'll just keep working on it. We only did one run in race trim [Friday]. The track hasn't rubbered-up yet. [Saturday] we'll go to work and see what we've got."