Once inside the studio, Thompson gives Keselowski a primer on the sound board, instructing him on how to control volume levels and select songs preloaded into a computer. He’s extremely patient, befitting a 14-year industry vet who teaches radio each summer at Appalachian State. Thompson explains tricks like “hitting the post,” or speaking right up to — but not over — the moment a song begins to ramp up. Before long, Keselowski will be working all the knobs and dials as comfortably as the switches inside his race car, tossing out terms like “two-song set,” throwing it to traffic and weather, and hitting the post like a center in the NBA.

“Dude,” the driver says during an early break, “we’re going to own this.”

There are fist bumps all around. “You’re killing this thing,” Thompson tells him later. “You’re doing way better than I expected.”

Indeed, even WEND program director Jack Daniel sticks his head into the studio at one point to offer praise. “You ever retire,” he tells Keselowski, “you’ve found something else you can do.”

But first, there’s Kid Rock. After spending the first hour as a co-host, Keselowski moves behind the board at 5 p.m. His scheduled opener has been in limbo all afternoon, given that within the industry tunes with such explicit lyrics are considered “safe harbor” songs, and stations aren’t supposed to play them during drive time. Before Keselowski goes on the air, though, Daniel enters the studio and says an exception has been made in this case. An edited version of Kid Rock will rock on after all, pleasing the guest host to no end.

“I had to open with Kid Rock, being from Detroit, Rock City,” says Keselowski, whose hometown of Rochester Hills, Mich., is a Detroit suburb. “That song just kind of personifies me.”

Many of the choices on his playlist come from a deeply personal place — like Moby’s “Porcelain,” a somber, introspective cut that Keselowski said he listened to often after his parents went bankrupt trying to keep the family’s racing team afloat. At the time, Keselowski was even thinking about joining the military.

“That song was like my driving force to keep going,” he says. It’s dedicated to a listener named Caleb, whom a caller says is going through a difficult time.

Conversely, there’s Linkin Park’s “One Step Closer,” an angry screamer that Keselowski refers to as “my hater song."

"I thought about that in the Chase last year when everyone said, ‘Jimmie Johnson is going to wax your ass,’” he said. Keselowski and Johnson battled down to the wire last season, with the Penske driver besting the five-time champion in the final event of the year.

The hour rolls on, with Keselowski spinning up Godsmack, Staind, Beck and Alice in Chains. He’s received plenty of requests over Twitter for Cake’s race-car themed “Going the Distance,” but that one seems too predictable. “I’m not a cliché guy,” he says. “I’m trying to be original.” Which he certainly proves by choosing a little-known band named Red Light King that he was first exposed to while living with Dale Earnhardt Jr., back when there were plenty of parties in the basement bar known as Club E.

“The first time I heard this was in Dale Jr.’s basement,” Keselowski says. “So let’s listen to some Dale Jr. bar music.”

It all goes by in a flash and suddenly Keselowski is playing his final selection, Rage Against the Machine’s “Bulls on Parade,” a relentless charger that can make anyone want to get in a car and drive 200 mph. Keselowski goes out strong, not just hitting the post, but slamming it right as Tom Morello’s opening guitar riff shifts into high gear. Except for a few minor hiccups, it’s been a flawless hour. Thompson beams like a proud father as he and Keselowski once again trade fist bumps.

Afterward, the NASCAR champion signs some autographs, trades some handshakes, poses for a few photographs. There’s some informal talk about him coming back one day, particularly if he wins another title. Keselowski seems to enjoy every moment of the experience, right up until the time he climbs into his icicle-covered car for the drive home. Inside the vehicle, the radio will surely be playing, just as it was during all those days back at the race shop while he was growing up.

“This is just a dream come true,” Keselowski says in the final moments of his on-air shift. “I can check this off my bucket list. The next thing I’m going to do is jump a Harley through a ring of fire.”

TBR announced Monday that Golden Corral would return to the team in 2013 as a primary sponsor for the No. 36 at the four superspeedway races. On Tuesday, the team announced an additional primary sponsor for three races. United Mining Equipment (UME) will be on Yeley’s car at Kentucky Speedway and both races at Bristol.

Yeley has a diverse background in racing, driving in all three of NASCAR’s premier series, the ARCA racing series, IndyCar and IROC and has participated in Tony Stewart’s annual Prelude to the Dream several times, coming in second in 2011.

Golden Corral will also bring back its “Top 10 Kids Eat Free” promotion. Only it will be called “J.J.’s Mondays” on the Monday following the race if Yeley finishes in the top 10.