Photo credit: Rachel Schuoler

No sane NASCAR fan can deny that Brad Keselowski is perhaps one of the greatest Cup series drivers of this decade. Similar to my meeting with his teammate, Team Penske driver and two-time IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden, I became a forever fan after sitting down with Brad Keselowski to talk all things NASCAR.

To some, Keselowski may appear to be a quirky academic, but after spending some time chatting with him, I walked away with a new respect for the 2012 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion. Behind all of his intellectual views, one thing is clear — his passion for the sport of NASCAR is unswerving.

In a sit-down conversation arranged by Team Penske partner Autotrader, Keselowski was gracious enough to lend his time to talk with me about life and motorsports. Our conversation included some NASCAR talk, but he shared so much more.

Instead of shedding light on his impressive stats as a stock car driver, his accomplishments as Team Penske’s all-time winningest driver, or reminding you that Keselowski is always a championship contender when he is behind the wheel on any race track, I’ll share his thoughts on old school drivers, NASCAR personalities, and helping people in need.

Below are a few answers to questions I had for Keselowski when I talked to him. If you want to read a transcript of our conversation, take the jump over to MankindUnplugged.com. For more information on Team Penske and Brad Keselowski visit TeamPenske.com. To learn more about Autotrader, the most visited third-party car shopping site and their support of Team Penske and the No. 2 Ford Mustang driven by Brad Keselowski, please visit Autotrader.com.

[Note: This interview was edited for clarity. Ross Collicutt is a writer with TheManual.com]

Tam: Brad, you’re a true racer. If you were putting together a team, give me your three drivers — old school drivers.

Brad: Retired drivers?

Tam: Yeah.

Brad: Oh wow. Cale Yarborough. Cale Yarborough was just a tough racecar guy; tough as nails and super-skilled. David Pearson is one of the smartest racecar drivers you ever seen. Of course, I would probably add, it’s pretty tough, someone like a Tim Richmond—super-talented and a wild character.

We’ve got to have a good mix if I’m a team owner. I don’t want all the same people.

READ: Racing Through the NASCAR Playoffs with Autotrader: What Drives Brad Keselowski?

Tam: I have been around the sport long enough to see it. I think a lack of personality is the issue why the sport is not growing as much as I think it should. What do you see? Do you think that the sport needs more personality? People don’t ask this question a lot.

Brad: There are some pretty strong personalities. You know, it’s tough. You look at the media landscape which certainly drives our sport, and it’s a tough media landscape. It really is. The majority of our revenue comes from a TV contract. And the TV contracts, they’re interested in selling commercials and doing all those things and to make their money back, right? Well, strong personalities are not always the friendliest to marketing campaigns, whether it be TV or whatnot, and everybody is just super cognizant of that. And with that in mind, it really takes some of the super dynamic personalities we have and put them in a shell publicly, not privately. I think there’s a lot of public and private personas that might differ from each other because, keep in mind, my job when I get in a car is to win. It’s not to make friends. It’s not to make fans. I like my friends. I like my fans. But I’m hired to win, and anything that gets in the way of that I gotta squash like a bug.so if I spend a lot of time working on all that other stuff, sometimes it might inhibit the ability to win. And that’s tough. I’ll get fired. I don’t want to get fired. I want to win. That’s not just me; that’s a lot of different drivers. I think from a personality perspective, the personalities are there, but they are perhaps more reserved on camera than they are away. You can’t do the things that you could do 20 or 30 years ago.

Tam: But [laughs]. Yeah, I’ve seen a change.

Tam: And work life balance [laughs]. I mean, it is almost impossible. When it’s all said and done, are you going to take off and not do anything for a long time, or will you always be a part of the sport?

Brad: I don’t know. I would like to think I would always be a part of the sport. You never really know those things till it happens. It’s kind of like, “what kind of parent will you be well?” You don’t know till you have a kid [laughs].

Ross: The ultimate test.

Brad: Yeah. Everything before that is really just a guess. And you’d like to think you know but when that kid shows up, you find out. So, I don’t know, I’d be assuming the sport still wants me.

Tam: Any aspirations to go into the booth [broadcasting]? It seems like Kevin Harvick is leaning towards going in the booth.

Brad: I’ve enjoyed my time in the booth, for sure, but I haven’t looked at what opportunities there might be. And that’s a very dynamic situation as well; so much about the opportunities than anything else.

Tags Autotrader Brad Keselowski Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series NASCAR Team Penske