Penske's Keselowski revels in his rabble-rousing role

The hard feelings from their on-track feud in the final weeks of the 2009 campaign may have stretched into the offseason, but that didn't stop Brad Keselowski from sending rival Denny Hamlin a Christmas card. The message on the front was simple: Peace on earth. The personal note on the inside was laughable: "Your friend, Brad Keselowski."

"I didn't want to get wordy," Penske Racing's newest driver said with a wide, mischievous grin.

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Brad Keselowski had questions to answer as his skirmishes with Denny Hamlin escalated as the season prolonged.

• Dover wreck
• Dover reaction
• Phoenix wreck
• Phoenix reaction
• Homestead wreck

And he wonders why he didn't get one back. It was another subtle needle, the under-the-skin type in that Keselowski seems to revel. He won a Sprint Cup race that featured a massive crash at the finish, and didn't even flinch. He became embroiled in a retaliatory rumble with a more successful, more experienced driver in the Nationwide Series, and never once backed down. He was labeled as too aggressive by some in NASCAR's premier series, and laughed it off. He ruffles feathers and tips over apple carts with unvarnished glee.

Yes, Keselowski has earned himself quite a reputation in his short time in the sport's national divisions. He knows it. He doesn't hide from it. In fact, he seems to enjoy it, a fact that likely peeves his antagonists even more.

"There's a quiet amusement to it, yeah," he said. "You know, how do you put that? I enjoy the fun of pulling up behind somebody and knowing that guy has gone, 'Oh, not him.' I enjoy that part. That part is fun. I don't necessarily enjoy the media part of it, but I enjoy that factor. That part is fun. That's probably the best answer I can give you."

It's not an act. This is a guy who will admit, he got into his fair share of fights in middle school. This is a guy who said he won the first race in which he ever participated, and has carried a degree of confidence with him ever since.

"There's always been a part of me that, when I get in that competitive mood, just elevates as a personality to where, for lack of a better word, you just don't take no s**t," Keselowski said. "That's where I feel like I'm at. I feel like I've got a pretty good tolerance when I get out of the car, but once I get in there, I can get a little mean sometimes. That's what's fun to me. It's bringing out that part of you that brings out that edginess and that drive. That's why I love racing, because it has that ability to bring that out of me. That's the best way I can explain it." (Continued)