For NASCAR star Brad Keselowski growing up, it was all about the rubber meeting the road and far less about girls and boozing.
Keselowski joined Kevin Harvick’s FOX Sports podcast, “Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour,” recently and talked about drinking his first beer with Dale Earnhardt Jr. He said he did not sip the suds until he got his first deal with Miller. He took over the Team Penske Miller Lite car in 2011.
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Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Ford, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 24, 2020 in Concord, North Carolina. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
“Before I got the Miller deal, I didn’t drink at all,” he said. “I grew up in a household that didn’t drink. It wasn’t like a super religious thing, but my parents just didn’t drink. … There was no alcohol in the house growing up that I remember. I just never really had an interest in it.
“So, there was no drinking, there was no dating, there was none of those things because I wanted to race and my dad was very clear like ‘If you even touch any of that stuff, done.’ I don’t think he meant it in a mean way, it was probably actually really good for me. If you’re going to do this, you’re going to be 100% focused, we’re not doing anything at all. I’m not wasting my time with this.
Brad Keselowski, driver of the #6 King’s Hawaiian/Despicable Me 4 Ford, looks on in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 7, 2024 in Sonoma, California. (Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
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“It actually served me really well. I’m telling you that story because until I got to be racing with Dale and kind of like off on my own, none of that was even an option for me because I couldn’t race without my dad at least helping me in some way.”
Keselowski was the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion as he started to really breakout as a driver on the circuit. He left Penske after the 2021 season and started with RFK Racing in 2022.
Brad Keselowski walks down pit road during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 on May 25, 2024 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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He made it back to the NASCAR Playoffs in 2023, and this season, he was back in Victory Lane with a victory in Darlington, South Carolina.
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