LOUDON, N.H. -- He's played the part so well for so long now that it almost seems an inherent part of him, like his broad smile or his Upper Midwest accent. No one in NASCAR, it seems, relishes stirring the pot more than Brad Keselowski, whose needling demeanor has gotten under the skin of more competitors than New Hampshire Motor Speedway has seats. This is, after all, the guy who in the wake of his on-track feud with Denny Hamlin last season, sent his adversary a Christmas card with "Peace on Earth" on the front.

That's Keselowski, nose-tweaker extraordinaire, whose never-back-down style on the track and bedeviling personality off it has made him among the more polarizing figures in the sport. This weekend, when he earned his first Cup Series pole with a track-record run at New Hampshire, offered him another opportunity to aggravate his antagonists. Instead, it brought out a character trait rarely seen publicly from the young Penske Racing driver -- humility.

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It's been really frustrating this year [in Cup]. I don't feel bad about sharing that. You shouldn't be happy being 26th in points and not having a top-10 when you're with an elite team like Penske.

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-- BRAD KESELOWSKI

Keselowski's pole stands in stark contrast to the rest of his Cup season, a bleak campaign that to this point has been devoid of a top-10 finish. The brash, 26-year-old driver moved to Penske with the hopes of pursuing race wins and a Chase berth, and instead has experienced a frustrating first full season in NASCAR's premier series, one marked by rotating car sponsors and unfulfilling results.

It's been enough to make tangling with Carl Edwards, which Keselowski has done twice this season on the race track, seem easy by comparison. No wonder the driver of the No. 12 car clung to that pole award like it was a life raft.

"Hell, we don't have a top-10," he said. "We have work to do. It's been a great year on the Nationwide side, leading the points. It's been really frustrating this year [in Cup]. I don't feel bad about sharing that. You shouldn't be happy being 26th in points and not having a top-10 when you're with an elite team like Penske. This is a breath of fresh air that legitimizes our team as being able to get up front .... It really legitimizes us and [our] ability to run up front when things get right. We're all committed to that. I sit down and talk to Roger Penske probably once or twice a week, talking about how we're going to make things better. This is a really good piece for doing that."

And yet, it's still only a pole, and it won't be of any greater good to Keselowski unless he builds upon it Sunday. That's perfectly realistic, given how important track position is on the narrow Magic Mile, and the fact that Keselowski is coming off one of his better efforts of the year last weekend at Richmond. Still, a top finish of 12th this deep into the season clearly isn't what he envisioned, especially given that in 2011 he inherits Penske's flagship car sponsorship -- a Miller Lite brand that's been as synonymous with the organization as the owner's steely gaze.

Keselowski's two predecessors in the blue No. 2 car, Kurt Busch and Rusty Wallace, enjoyed tremendous success in the vehicle, which has failed to win a race in only three seasons since Wallace and Penske first joined forces in 1991. Next season that mantle falls to Keselowski, who despite his dominance on the Nationwide tour hasn't come close to winning a Cup event this year. Although Busch will continue to drive the organization's top car -- which next year will be a No. 22 backed by Shell/Pennzoil -- the expectations surrounding Keselowski will rise considerably once he zips up that familiar blue and gold firesuit.

No one understands that better than the driver himself. (Continued)