Brad Keselowski explains why NASCAR pit crews target ex-college football athletes
Over the years, NASCAR Cup Series organizations have started to turn towards former NCAA athletes for pit crew members. Brad Keselowski gave insight into why NASCAR does this and how they are able to compete for these athletes against more traditional options.
Former football, basketball, baseball, and other athletes now call NASCAR home. Pit crews are explosive athletes who have to work under immense pressure. No matter how good a driver is, a pit crew can sink a day at the track.
The modern NASCAR Cup Series pit stop is 10 seconds or faster. Anything slower than that is considered a failure most days.
Today, a tweet made the rounds that NASCAR teams had pit crew scouts at the Clemson Football Pro Day. All 32 NFL teams had a scout there at least, plus Mike Tomlin of the Steelers made an appearance.
“This always blows people away when we do before race meet and greets with the team,” Keselowski posted on X/Twitter. “Simple why – we welcome top NCAA players with safer/longer careers and better pay while still filling the competitive needs of our athletes better than NFL Practice squad or CFL. This attracts a lot of amazing talent.”
As a team owner, Brad Keselowski knows that his organization has to find an edge anywhere they can. That means attracting the best athletes to become pit crew members. It is a skill that takes time and training to learn. But a lot of the same principles you see in other sports apply to pitting a race car.
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Each week when FOX highlights a pit crew on the broadcast, you see the talent level. Former NFL free agents who spent time in the league down to four-year players at small Division II schools. The range of athletes is wide and varies from team to team.
Brad Keselowski has to have a good race at Las Vegas
This season has not gone the way that Brad Keselowski hoped that it would. In the first month, Keselowski has two DNFs and only one top-15 finish. As a result, he has 47 points and is in 33rd place.
Keselowski is trailing behind not only Chris Buescher but his new driver and teammate Ryan Preece as well. Preece has 68 points and is 24th in the standings. He has a stage win and has led 43 laps. That is a lot more than Keselowski can say.
Las Vegas has to be where things change. If not, it is going to be a long and hard season for Keselowski. If he doesn’t get a win, it will be hard to point his way in with how he has started 2025.