Brad Keselowski issued a written statement today apologizing to
David Ragan for comments following Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega
Superspeedway, won by Ragan.
“I finally had a chance to digest what happened at the end of the
Cup race at Talladega on Sunday,” said Keselowski. “I owe David Ragan and his
fans an apology. I placed blame on David Ragan for the restart lineup confusion
when it wasn’t his fault.
“I was very passionate about the finish because I thought we had a
chance to win the race if I restarted the race in the 10th position instead of
ninth. Passion is a very important characteristic to a champion driver. That
passion is not something I will apologize for. The outside line – the 10th
spot, in particular – was a huge advantage over the 9th position. David
executed that positioning perfectly for the win.
“I know first-hand what it’s like to take a lower-budget team (to) Victory Lane. My comments were never to detract from their victory. They were only to express my opinion that I thought we had been wronged.
“Basically what happened is that, when the yellow came out at lap 184 the lineup was supposed to be Scott Speed, myself and David. We were actually lined up David, Scott and me because we were unsure what the lineup was. NASCAR did not change this before opening pit road so by procedure we were lined up in the proper positions. NASCAR made a last-minute lineup change that we missed as we were getting ready to go back to green. David attempted to make it right by letting me go at the start/finish line with one to go. I thought he was attempting to change the pylon because the order is supposed to be set before pit road opens.
“With the multi-car wreck, the rain and the impending darkness it is easy to see how NASCAR could have made that mistake,” said Keselowski. “It was a confusing time for all of us. I want to send a sincere congratulation out to David Ragan and everyone at Front Row Motorsports. It was a very cool win for our sport.”
“I know first-hand what it’s like to take a lower-budget team (to) Victory Lane. My comments were never to detract from their victory. They were only to express my opinion that I thought we had been wronged.
“Basically what happened is that, when the yellow came out at lap 184 the lineup was supposed to be Scott Speed, myself and David. We were actually lined up David, Scott and me because we were unsure what the lineup was. NASCAR did not change this before opening pit road so by procedure we were lined up in the proper positions. NASCAR made a last-minute lineup change that we missed as we were getting ready to go back to green. David attempted to make it right by letting me go at the start/finish line with one to go. I thought he was attempting to change the pylon because the order is supposed to be set before pit road opens.
“With the multi-car wreck, the rain and the impending darkness it is easy to see how NASCAR could have made that mistake,” said Keselowski. “It was a confusing time for all of us. I want to send a sincere congratulation out to David Ragan and everyone at Front Row Motorsports. It was a very cool win for our sport.”
In a statement today,
Ragan said that he and Keselowski have spoken, and that there are no hard
feelings.
"Brad gave
me a call earlier and I appreciated that,” Ragan said. “Everything's cool
between us. I was disappointed right after the race when I saw the comments
he'd made, but it shows maturity on his part to re-evaluate the situation and
make an apology. Now that he's got all the information, I'm glad we both see
things the same way."
Keselowski - a gentleman and a champion. Way to go.
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