Brad Keselowski won’t change the way he drives, and shouldn’t

The venom among fans is discernible anytime his face is shown on the video board or his name is mentioned by the public address announcer. It’s a loud chorus of boos that leave no interpretation for whom the disdain is directed toward.

If Brad Keselowski is not the most reviled driver in NASCAR, he’s a close second. Twice in the past four weeks Keselowski’s antics have enticed a reaction from two well-respected and usually levelheaded former series champions, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon. Following each instance there was little, if any, remorse, and instead a firm commitment to maintain a ruthless -- some would say reckless -- driving style.

In the aftermath of Sunday’s postrace fight, Gordon questioned Keselowski’s intelligence and wondered how he ever won a championship. On Tuesday Denny Hamlin explained why it will be difficult for Keselowski to ever win a second.

“It’s tough to win a championship if nobody likes you,” Hamlin said. “That is going to be a very, very tough task. You always have to just watch your mirror, and that’s a tough way to race. It really is a tough way to race.

“This is typically the point of the season where people get back at each other when they feel like they’ve been done wrong.”

It would seem apparent that for the benefit of his livelihood, Keselowski needs to see the error of his ways and attempt to earn back the respect of those he competes against. If the goal of every driver is to win races and ultimately a championship, the path of least resistance would seem to make as few enemies as possible.

The reality, however, is although controversial, Keselowski’s approach does pay dividends. In 2012, he did what few have been able to do: beat Jimmie Johnson straight up for the title. This season Keselowski’s won a series-best six times and were it not for a balky transmission two weeks ago, would likely be in solid position to earn a spot in the championship finale.

Keselowski may not have had as many rivals in 2012 as he currently does, but he certainly was no Eagle Scout and his demeanor behind the wheel was no different. And when using a more cautious, respectful approach in defense of his title, Keselowski’s results noticeably waned.

Last season he won just a single race and failed to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. That precipitous decline spurred Keselowski to return to the driving style that had proven successful.

“What I’m not going to do is back down,” Keselowski said. “I’m not going to get in the spot where I was in 2013 where, you know, I tried to be exactly what they all wanted me to be, because what they want me to be is a loser and I’m not here to lose, I’m here to win. That means I’m going to have to drive my car harder, stronger, faster than everybody out there.”

Understanding the history of a sport long built on the good guy versus the bad guy melodrama, Keselowski seems perfectly comfortable in the role he currently finds himself. And if he’s willing to embrace that role, there is little reason to think Keselowski should change on or off the track.

“I’ve already gone much further than I thought I’d ever go in this sport with the mentality that I have,” Keselowski said. “I’m not going to give up on it because there’s some resistance now. That would be a shame. That would be a tragedy. I’m going to continue to push forward with what I’m doing. It served me in the past and I believe it will serve me in the future.”

Contrary to Hamlin’s assertion, success can still be had even if you’re despised, as drivers wearing the proverbial black hat have shown. Previous villains like Darrell Waltrip or Dale Earnhardt almost thrived off the vitriol directed their way.

When Earnhardt dumped Terry Labonte to win at Bristol Motor Speedway in 1999, there was no “I’m sorry,” nor did he take the time to listen to Labonte vent, as Hamlin suggested Keselowski should have when Gordon confronted him Sunday. What Earnhardt did was simply utter his famous, “I didn’t mean to turn him around, I meant to rattle his cage” soliloquy in Victory Lane. Labonte’s response: “Have you ever heard him say he means to spin anyone out?”

Keselowski is the first to tell you he’s no Earnhardt, a seven-time Cup champion, who was unabashed about using a bumper to complete a pass. But the template of a great, headstrong driver paired with a fast car is a formula that can and has worked.

“I’m not Dale Earnhardt or Ayrton Senna (multi-time Formula One champion),” Keselowski said. “I read how they raced, how great they were for this sport. They would sit here and tell you they would go for that same gap. I’m not them, but I’m inspired by that, and I’m going to race that way.”

Going forward, Keselowski may have a bit of difficulty navigating traffic, and maybe he doesn’t get a break on a restart, but to think that all of sudden he’s going to evolve into an also-ran because no one likes him is false. Last month at Talladega Superspeedway, a track where having friends is most critical, Keselowski not only found a way to win, but did so with an assist from Kenseth, who the week before assailed Keselowski in the Charlotte Motor Speedway garage.

Further lessening the need for Keselowski to recant is, unlike others whose incendiary behavior has made them a garage pariah, the unwavering support he has from team owner Roger Penske and sponsor Miller Lite.

Normally someone who avoids inflammatory comments, Penske took it upon himself to offer a defense of Keselowski following his Talladega victory, saying drivers such as Hamlin were merely jealous, which fueled their bitterness. It was both uncustomary and telling. As long as Keselowski produces, he has a firm backer in Penske, who openly credits his driver with reshaping a once slumping organization.

And as opposed to drivers who’ve run afoul of companies leery of having a spokesman saddled with a bad boy persona, Keselowski again is in an ideal situation with a beer company as a sponsor. It’s quite a contrast from Kyle Busch being sponsored by an image-conscious company like Mars, which markets to families and children.

“If Roger Penske came up to me tomorrow and said, ‘Brad, you drove that race wrong, you shouldn’t have done what you did,’ it would affect me,” Keselowski said. “But the management team at Penske tells me to drive the way I did and tells me there’s nothing to be ashamed of and continues to support me. And they’re my boss. My boss isn’t the other drivers in the field. My boss is them. As long as they’re on my side, I feel strong and I feel proud and encouraged to continue.”

Every sport needs a rogue and NASCAR as found an ideal one in Keselowski, who like any good bad guy, refuses to change.

“I don’t necessarily enjoy being disliked, but it beats the alternative of not being known at all by a long ways,” Keselowski said. “If I’m a villain, the people that think I’m a villain have a pretty good life and should be proud of that. All this stuff that’s going on in the world, if your villain is me racing 100 percent, you’ve got it pretty good and I don’t feel too bad for you.”