Spotter’s ‘energy’ propels Brad Keselowski to Talladega victory

Uttered almost continuously by spotter Joey Meier, three key phrases played a pivotal role in helping Brad Keselowski reach Victory Lane on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.

“Energy through the middle.”

“Energy coming high.”

“Energy is building down low.”

The unusual phrasing was something Meier used to describe when a group of drivers would begin to gather momentum preparing to charge past Keselowski, who led a race-high 46 laps. Because of the fluidity that occurs during a restrictor-plate race, Meier prefers verbiage that though condensed creates an “instant picture for the driver” of what’s going on around them.

Brevity, after all, is important at Talladega and Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR’s only two tracks that require the use of horsepower-sapping restrictor-plates.

Before Sunday, Meier had never said “energy” to illustrate to Keselowski in what manner cars were aligning around him. But after saying the word once, Meier noticed how Keselowski reacted positively by decisively and quickly moving up or down the track to stymie any bids to take away his lead.

“From my aviation background I’ve always tried to use a shorter vocabulary, but try and keep things very descriptive,” Meier, a licensed pilot, told SB Nation. “And when I first used ‘energy’ to describe energy building in either line and saw how Brad responded, it just made sense to keeping using it.

“It allowed him, I believe, to pick a lane a lot easier.”

Unbeknownst to Meier, his proclivity to say “energy” became a bit of an inside joke among Team Penske with Keselowski’s crew members keeping a running tally of how many times the word “energy” came out of his mouth on Sunday.

“Well over a 180 times,” Meier said.

That phrasing, however, paid dividends. Keselowski led 26 of the final 32 laps and fended of a host of challengers with aggressive — and often defensive — driving thanks to Meier’s information.

“My spotter is definitely an all-star for sure,” Keselowski said. “We did as good a job as we’ve ever done working together.

“Timing the runs here is so critical. His communication, his way of kind of verbalizing what he sees, is the key for me to be able to make the right moves on the race track.”

Meier demurs credit, pointing out Keselowski drove an “amazingly aggressive race to manage the front line” and ultimately made the decisions that led to victory.

“The way we spot and the information we give is totally different than any other race track so the end result I think is that we tend to get a little more credit,” Meier said.

Always important, the relationship between a driver and spotter carries added significance at Daytona and Talladega. The information conveyed by the guys atop the grandstands is often the difference between winning and losing.

It’s no coincidence that Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano, who’ve collectively won 13 of the past 21 restrictor-plate races, did so with a spotter they have been paired with for three-plus years. And as evident by Matt Kenseth’s misstep on the final lap of the season-opening Daytona 500, a lack of familiarity with a spotter can lead to one’s downfall.

Which is why most tend to agree with Keselowski’s assessment of the spotter he’s had since 2010: Meier was a difference maker Sunday. He says he received more complimentary feedback than at any point in his 19 years of spotting. And the majority of those messages had a similar theme.

“The response was overwhelming,” Meier said. “That race I got more feedback of the way I spotted and referenced things than any other race. The response came from crew guys I never expected. ... Something about ‘energy’ must have resonated.”