RELATED: Keselowski pens searing blog post about daughter
Brad Keselowski said he considers his family fortunate after a recent medical scare with his nearly 3-month-old daughter, Scarlett, saying that the traumatic experience has brought him closer to his longtime girlfriend, Paige White.
Keselowski first detailed the harrowing episode in a blog post Aug. 6, revealing a grave diagnosis of severe laryngomalacia, a weakness of the infant’s throat muscles. The former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion recalled the experience in a teleconference Tuesday, adding a happier anecdote about how a stock-car racing legend helped the couple meet.
“Certainly that is a tough experience to go through, but I guess I kind of count the blessings on it and think of how all those things kind of came together perfectly with off weeks,” Keselowski said. “The way things could have unfolded as good as they can for the situation. So certainly those are very galvanizing moments that probably affect you in ways you don’t realize until many years down the road. But I feel lucky to have a great family and support structure to get through it, whether it’s Paige or guys like Roger (Penske, car owner) who help me get in the hospital and get her taken care of, I felt very, very lucky and fortunate.”
Shortly after the diagnosis in June, the couple quickly flew to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for emergency surgery, with Penske helping to facilitate the arrangement. The three returned home on Father’s Day and celebrated as a group in Victory Lane three weeks later at Kentucky Speedway after a NASCAR XFINITY Series win.
“I think it was certainly a very difficult but, like I said, galvanizing time for Paige and I, and in some ways it was an incredible moment for me and the Penske family to kind of galvanize together as well with the help that they gave me through the process,” Keselowski said. “It was certainly not the most enjoyable in‑the‑moment situation to go through, but I think it’s a moment that we’ll certainly take something away from for the rest of our life, and has brought me closer to my personal life and professional life all in one instance. Kind of an incredibly difficult, strange, but inspiring thing to go through.”
Keselowski also said he owed fellow Midwesterner Frank Kimmel a level of gratitude for his relationship with White, saying that the veteran racer helped introduce the two. Keselowski tagged the 53-year-old Kimmel, closing in on his 500th career start in the ARCA Series, with the nickname “the big kid” growing up, noting his tendency to surprise him with squirt guns during his childhood.
Keselowski lauded Kimmel’s accomplishments as a 10-time series champion, but also offered thanks for a chance meeting with him at Kentucky Speedway for changing his life.
“Actually, I saw him in Kentucky, and I went over to say hello, and Paige was with him as a friend of the family,” Keselowski said. “I asked him later, ‘Who was that girl? She’s really pretty cute.’ And that’s kind of how it all started.”