BROOKLYN, Mich. — They both return home with much to celebrate, these Michigan natives.
Brad Keselowski, who grew up about 90 miles from Michigan International Speedway, arrives a week after RFK Racing, the team he co-owns, scored its first victory of the season.
Erik Jones, who grew up about 75 miles from the track, comes here just a few days after his wedding.
They both hope to continue the good vibes in today’s Cup race (3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network). Keselowski starts 12th; Jones 25th.
They’ve combined to run 35 Cup races at this 2-mile track but have never won. Keselowski has been a runner-up three times. Jones has finished third.
Jones, a two-time Southern 500 winner, tells NBC Sports that a win at Michigan, “I think, would mean more to me than both of those races. Obviously those races are huge and career-defining moments, at least for me, but winning at home, I take a lot of pride being from here.”
Jones recalls sitting in the stands at this track for races. This track also fostered his dreams. When racing earlier in his career, he often picked up shocks at a company near the track.
“Where you parked, you could see the track,” Jones said. “I’d always make sure to drive over just to take a look at the track.”
Keselowski, who came to this track to watch his father race in the ARCA Series, perhaps best expressed what a win at Michigan would mean when he told the media in 2018: “I have said it before and I am just going to keep repeating it, a win here would be like winning the Daytona 500 for me.
“A home track means a lot to any race car driver. It is your friends and family, and there is a lot of notoriety that comes with it. It makes the losses sting more, and it makes the wins sweeter.”
Keselowski, who is from Rochester Hills, Michigan, comes into this weekend after teammate Chris Buescher won at Richmond, giving RFK Racing its second victory since Keselowski became a part owner before the 2022 season.
“A lot of progress over the last 12 months,” Keselowski said. “We started making progress immediately when I came in, it is just you don’t realize it. You make a lot of investments in people and equipment and none of them are light switches.
“I feel like about this time last year we really started to hit and some of our investments started to mature and then there were more during the offseason. Things really started to come together. I think from this point last year to the end of the year, both cars were easily top-15 cars. This year we took another step and are 11th and 13th in points.
“I think we still have more steps to go. I am super proud of the progress we have made the last 12 months, but we need to make another leap to be playoff-winning kind of cars.”
Jones’ celebration took place Wednesday when he married Holly Shelton near his Byron, Michigan, home. Jones’ dog, Oscar, also was a part of the ceremony.
“He was just down the aisle as a co-best man,” Jones said of the 85-pound German Shepherd. “We had him up front for the whole ceremony. Came back down the aisle with us. … did a bunch of pictures with him. He did a great job. He’s pretty good at being ready to go for the camera.”
It’s back to work this weekend and there is much for Jones to do. Legacy Motor Club is in transition. The team co-owned by Maury Gallagher and seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson is switching from Chevrolet to Toyota after this season.
This season has been challenging for the organization. Saturday, the team and NASCAR suspended Noah Gragson.
Jones enters today’s race 28th in the points, but he has finished 11th or better in four of the last six races.
Jones has seen much change in the organization. He was there when it was Richard Petty Motorsports in 2021, saw it change to Petty GMS Motorsports in 2022 and then become Legacy Motor Club before this season.
In his seventh full-time Cup season, the 27-year-old has grown to become comfortable as a team leader.
“When I came over to RPM in 2021, that’s what changed a lot for me,” he said. “We had a 600-700 person group at (Joe Gibbs Racing, his home in Cup from 2018-20). You go to RPM, we had 50 or 60. I’m like, ‘I can help here.’ I’ve been to this program where we win races and the company had won championships. I was at least there and saw how things worked.
“I was able to initially just kind of bring in a lot of thoughts and processes and try to work in that direction. That’s what really helped me grow to the point I’m at now.
“It’s not always easy and there’s conversations you don’t always want to have with people, but we’ve, obviously, changed so much in the last two years, it’s really not even close to the same company when I initially joined the 43. It’s been a good direction. I’ve learned a ton.”
