Toledo Speedway

(TOLEDO, Ohio - March 19, 2012) - Brad Keselowski continues to be one of the hottest stories in NASCAR, from his surprise surge into last year's Chase for the Sprint Cup to his Twitter explosion last month in the Daytona 500.

Yesterday, Keselowski - son of 1989 ARCA champion Bob and a former ARCA competitor himself - won the challenging 500-lap spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway, his fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory and second straight on the high-banked, 0.533-mile track.

Keselowski is featured today in a NASCAR.com column written by David Caraviello and, in relating his Bristol win to past racing experiences, had the chance to mention a familiar short track near and dear to the ARCA story.

An excerpt follows.

By his own admission, the younger Keselowski never thought of himself as a short-track ace. But there was this one place, Toledo Speedway up in northwestern Ohio, a half-mile layout where the corners were banked high and the action was fast. Keselowski competed in a super late model division where he made 15-second laps around that bowl of a race track, so when he came to Bristol Motor Speedway for the first time, something clicked.

"The first lap on this race track I ever took felt just like I was in that late model car in Toledo, Ohio," Keselowski said. "That made me really, really comfortable here from day one."

Before beginning his rising NASCAR career, Keselowski made several late model starts at Toledo, winning twice. His brother, Brian, currently an ARCA team owner and driver, won Toledo's late model championship in 2003. 

Brad Keselowski has since returned to Toledo Speedway on numerous occasions to make special appearances and sign autographs, never forgetting the fans who support motorsports just over an hour's drive south of his hometown, Rochester Hills, Mich.

To read more from Caraviello on Keselowski at NASCAR.com, click here.