NASCAR Cup Series drivers are preparing to compete on a road course for the second weekend in a row. Not everyone is thrilled about it, though. Count 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski among that group.
Keselowski, who is both a team owner and an elder statesman in the Cup garage, carries a lot of clout when he speaks out. And speak out he has, on the age-old subject of whether the Cup Series tour should consist almost exclusively of ovals.
The 41-year-old voiced his opinion loud and clear Thursday on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. But is his take on the matter a bit biased?
What Did Brad Keselowski Say About The Never-Ending Debate Around Road Courses Vs. Ovals?
When Brad Keselowski shares his thoughts about an issue of interest to NASCAR drivers and fans, he typically does so without equivocation.
The perspective he offered this week on the road courses versus ovals debate is no exception.
“We went from 2 to 6 Road course races, Possibly 7 next year,” Keselowski wrote in an X post that is unquestionably reverberating throughout the NASCAR world. “NASCAR was successfully built as a primarily oval racing series. IMSA was built as the primary road course series in North America. IMSA will always do road racing better than NASCAR and that’s ok. Yes, TOO Many.”
We went from 2 to 6 Road course races, Possibly 7 next year.
NASCAR was successfully built as a primarily oval racing series. IMSA was built as the primary road course series in North America. IMSA will always do road racing better than NASCAR and that’s ok.
Yes, TOO Many… https://t.co/W3pGrJwcb8
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) July 10, 2025
The “too many” here is a clear reference to road courses. And his post pretty well sums up his belief that NASCAR shouldn’t add more road or street races to future schedules. Agree or disagree with Keselowski, he’s not wrong in his claim that NASCAR is historically oval-centric. The 2025 Cup Series schedule consists of far more non-ovals than it did just a few years ago.
As recently as 2019, drivers went road racing only twice a year. This year, that number is up to six — roughly 17% of the 36-race schedule.
Is The Veteran Driver’s Beef About Road Courses Legit Or Agenda-Driven?
Brad Keselowski is undoubtedly not the only person of influence in NASCAR who would like to see the sport dial it back on how many road courses its premier series visits.
After all, only a handful of drivers — most notably, Shane van Gisbergen — are consistently excellent at turning both right and left.
That reality, though, creates the possibility that Keselowski’s critique of NASCAR’s recently expanded road course slate may be motivated by more than initially meets the eye. Sure, the veteran driver is no doubt a purist at heart. In other words, he believes NASCAR should stick primarily to ovals for the sake of preserving a longstanding tradition.
But Keselowski’s lack of enthusiasm about road racing could be at least partly driven by two other factors. One is that he’s a bit jaded after crashing out of this past Sunday’s event at the Chicago Street Course in an accident he didn’t cause. Likely as a result, Keselowski failed to advance to the next round of NASCAR’s new In-Season Challenge.
But there’s also the fact that Keselowski has inexplicably failed to earn a single Cup Series win over a combined 51 starts on road and street circuits. No, that number is not a misprint.
Keselowski has captured all 36 of his Cup Series wins on ovals. It’s little wonder, then, that he prefers sticking to left-hand turns. Who could really blame him?
