DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Brad Keselowski arrived for his Daytona 500 Media Day interviews walking with a cane to support his right leg, which has been healing from a broken femur.
It wasn’t just any cane, mind you. This one bore sponsorship stickers relating to his No. 6 RFK Racing Ford.
RELATED: Speedweeks TV times, schedule | At-track photos: Daytona
“I knew I was probably going to get picked on a little bit,” said Keselowski, who on Feb. 9 was cleared to race in Sunday’s Daytona 500 (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) after missing the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. “So, I might as well just at some point own it. I won’t say it (the decals) was my idea, but I actually thought it was a good one.”
Keselowski broke his leg by slipping on ice during a family ski vacation in mid-December. He explained that the injury was far more severe than the broken ankle he suffered in a wreck at Road Atlanta in 2011.
As he was lying on the ice after the recent accident, Keselowski was beset with a grim thought.
“When I was laying on the ground and I was completely immobile immediately after I broke my leg, what was going through my mind was like, oh my God. Like, think about the soldiers in the Civil War,” Keselowski said. “Like, they just would cut their leg off right here.
“And I understood why they would do it, because it hurt so bad. It was by far the worst pain I’ve ever went through. I get why they would bring out the hacksaw. There was a part of me that was like, that might actually feel better.”
MORE: Power Rankings | 2026 Cup Series schedule
Keselowski expects to be able to drive at Daytona, though David Ragan will stand by as a relief driver. Less certain is whether he can handle the rigors of the Circuit of The Americas on March 1 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
As a consequence, sports car star Joey Hand has already been enlisted as a backup for that race.
