Brad Keselowski is set to join a very exclusive club on Sunday at Martinsville, when he starts his 600th NASCAR Cup Series race.
The RFK Racing co-owner will become just the 35th driver in history to hit that mark, and the second in as many years after Joey Logano made start no. 600 at Dover last July.
Keselowski has a history of success at the Paperclip, having taken race wins there in 2017 and 2019 when driving for Team Penske. Recent years have been less kind though, finishing 20th or worse in six of the last seven Cup Series races at the track.
The 42-year-old is still recovering from a badly broken leg sustained on a family ski trip in December, but gave a great showing last time out at Darlington to lead the most laps and finish second behind Tyler Reddick – his best result since the injury.
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He's also provided a very matter of fact description of this weekend's track, saying: “Martinsville is the smallest track that we race on full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series for points.
"It’s known as the paperclip because, quite honestly, it looks just like a paperclip from above, but it drives like two drag strips in a Walmart parking lot. You’ve got these really long straightaways and then two very tight corners.
"You’re super heavy on the brakes and there’s a lot of room for contact because generally there’s one groove around the bottom. There’s no other track like it in the Cup Series and it’s got a set of challenges.”
Keselowski comes into the race ninth in the points standings, as he looks to return to the postseason after missing out last year thanks to his extended winless run, which now sits at 65 races.
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