Time to lay off the criticism and embrace Keselowski (cont'd)

A lot of cats in the garage despise Little K. You know why? Because they can't they can't take advantage of him -- he won't cut them a break.

They don't like him because they have to work darn hard to beat him. He won't roll over. He won't turn the other cheek. They should be so lucky. They don't like him because they want pawns, they want patsies -- they want a boy they can use, abuse and discard.

Keselowski is none of the above. He's gonna hold his ground. He's gonna fight for what he deserves -- and coming from nothing through a couple difficult years in the Nationwide Series to get to the point where he could prove his worthiness in JR Motorsports equipment -- he's earned it.

So if that makes him an outcast, there are a lot of people in and around the NASCAR garage to feel sorry for right about now.

Bear with me for a minute, because I don't want to strain my memory too hard. I like the kid. I like his style. I'm not gonna ask a million questions.

And part of that comes from the fact that Keselowski's not much of a crybaby. He doesn't apologize for what he does, but he doesn't much whine when he gets it back. He says "wait 'til next time." And as a fan who craves a little drama with their racing, you've just gotta love that -- don't you?

I am not and will not compare Little K to Dale Earnhardt on any level, at any time. But I'll never forget the day, in my opinion of course, Big E gave away the 1989 Winston Cup championship when he made an ill-advised blocking move on Ricky Rudd at North Wilkesboro.

Rudd blew Earnhardt out of the way; unfortunately spun himself in the process and Geoff Bodine took advantage to win the race. I've cited this episode before but it remains one of the three best video clips in racing, ever, as Earnhardt wailed to a worldwide audience that NASCAR "ought to suspend the son of a bitch," meaning Rudd, of course.

For what, for using a move Earnhardt had virtually patented? The point is, even the late, great Earnhardt himself was not immune to whining a bit. But neither he, nor Keselowski, was known for it like a few other top runners in the garage.

Keselowski is the kind of character NASCAR needs, as long as he's strong enough to take what he dishes out when it comes back around.

What Edwards delivered Sunday wasn't anything Keselowski has ever, in my memory, been responsible for. He's raced hard, and God bless him for that -- but he hasn't gone out of his way to purely dump anyone out of pure spite.

Depending whom you choose to believe, Keselowski did nothing wrong on Lap 5 at Atlanta, when Edwards tried to occupy a space Keselowski was already in, and Keselowski tried to lift. But he wasn't bound to do that and certainly not more than that, like lifting AND braking in the midst of traffic.

Keselowski didn't flinch then, he told the truth when he left AMS's care center and said the next move might result in injury or death and for that, don't hate the boy.

We need to cherish his style, all the way around.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.