Team Penske has no substitute driver planned at Kansas
RELATED: Brad Keselowski's opinions on the Sprint Cup schedule
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- A three-time winner at this week's Sprint Cup Series venue, the wildly unpredictable Talladega Superspeedway, Brad Keselowski knows a thing or two about getting the timing right. When it comes to the impending birth of his first child, he's pretty confident he's got the timing down there, too.
Keselowski and his girlfriend, Paige White, are expecting a daughter sometime in the next two weeks, the 2012 Cup champ confirmed Friday from Talladega.
Because he expects to be home in Charlotte for the back-to-back weekends of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race May 16 and the Coca-Cola 600 May 24, Keselowski said Team Penske has not tabbed a replacement driver for him.
"As far as contingency plans, we haven't really made any because we're very, very fortunate that everything at this time looks to fall directly in line with the race weeks in Charlotte, which is where we live," Keselowski said.
"Fingers crossed. We'll see how it all plays out, but I'm looking forward to it very much."
Keselowski addressed the topic Friday during an announcement that his No. 2 Ford would carry new primary sponsorship from high tech company Avaya in next week's race at Kansas Speedway. It's a major get for the team and a sign of the times in NASCAR in general.
"I think NASCAR is trying very, very hard to continue to push the technical side and having more technical partners," Keselowski said. "So I think this is not just a win for Team Penske, but also a win for all of motorsports and NASCAR, in particular."
Wins are something Keselowski is familiar with at Talladega, where he scored three of his 17 career victories -- including his first Cup win in 2009 and perhaps his most clutch Cup win last October.
Needing nothing less than a victory to advance to the third round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Eliminator Round, Keselowski got a push from his Penske teammate Joey Logano and held off the charging field in overtime to take the win.
The result had major championship implications with Keselowski and Logano advancing in the playoffs and three preseason favorites, Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne having their title hopes stopped.
"Talladega, last fall was unbelievable," Keselowski said. "I think that's probably the most emotional I ever got besides my first win in NASCAR. ... That's probably the most emotional win I've had in quite some time, so it certainly meant a lot to me."
"As far as the clutch factor, or whatever, I try not to read too much into that. I feel like if you get caught up in that you kind of let those emotions get to you and sometimes that's maybe not in your best interest focus-wise.
"But all in all that was just an incredible weekend and one I'm gonna look back on for quite some time and be proud of."