Nearly a week after slicing his right hand in a Victory Lane celebration gone awry, Brad Keselowski says he’s not concerned that the injury will hamper him during Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
NASCAR Daytona 2014: Brad Keselowski says hand isn’t an issue
There are no complications for Brad Keselowski, who will drive without a bandage in Saturday’s NASCAR race a week after cutting his hand.
Todd Warshaw
Keselowski gashed his hand between the pinkie and ring finger while opening a champagne bottle following his win last Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway. He immediately went to the infield care center and received four stitches.
“I always struggle with champagne bottles,” Keselowski told NASCAR.com. “And it wouldn’t come open, and everybody else was hitting theirs on stuff trying to get it open. So I thought, ‘Well, I’ll just take this ledge and pop it.’ And I popped it and I hit it right on the cork, but it just (exploded). I thought there was a possibility it might break, but not like it broke. I mean, it really broke.”
Keselowski tested Tuesday at the Milwaukee Mile and showed no effects from the wound. During the test, the 2012 Sprint Cup champion didn’t wear a bandage as his hand wouldn’t fit in a glove. He will also drive without a bandage at Daytona. The only concern is if the cut reopens.
“My hand is a little sore, but it’s not too bad,” Keselowski said in a statement. “Ideally, the stitches will come out before the race. In terms of it affecting my ability to drive, it won’t bother me at all. While I am right handed, I drive left handed, if that makes sense. On top of that, Daytona is probably the easiest place that we go in terms of the amount of load on the driver’s hands.”
Saturday won’t be the first time Keselowski’s driven hurt. In 2011, he broke his left ankle in a testing crash at Road Atlanta. Refusing to sit out, Keselowski won the Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway that same week and at Bristol Motor Speedway two weeks later.
“It’s never fun getting hurt or getting stitches for that matter, but with the right perspective it can serve as a motivator,” Keselowski said. “We saw that back when I hurt my ankle a couple years back.”
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