Brad Keselowski hoping to build on Las Vegas success

He is known as one of NASCAR’s most insightful drivers. One who, when he has something to say, won’t hesitate to speak his mind.

But when it comes to his time-honored mastery of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Brad Keselowski pretty much is at a loss for words.

“It has been a really good track for us, but I can’t give you a specific reason why, other than we’ve had great cars, we’ve been able to execute, to navigate the different lanes on the racetrack,” the driver of Roger Penske’s No. 2 Ford said before the Daytona 500, where he led 30 laps before being eliminated in one of the late-race pileups.

“As the track changes, we’ve been able to make good adjustments. Hopefully, we can do that again.”

The statistics suggest it won’t be a problem. Keselowski has won three of the past nine races at LVMS. He is riding a run of consistency at the 1.5-mile oval that has seen him finish third, first, seventh, first, fifth, sixth, first, second and third.

He could almost have his mail delivered to the LVMS media center, given how many times he has been called in to talk about his success.

Joey Logano, his Team Penske teammate and sometimes rival — Keselowski was not pleased when the two got together and wrecked during the Busch Clash exhibition race before the Daytona 500 — also has been on a tear in Las Vegas, with eight consecutive top 10s and a win in last year’s Pennzoil 400.

But the only driver who has won more in Las Vegas than Keselowski, at least at the racetrack, is Jimmie Johnson. The seven-time Cup Series champion has four LVMS victories, with the last coming in 2010, capping a run of four wins in six starts.

Johnson, who will retire at season’s end, has average Las Vegas starting and finishing positions of 12.6 and 11.9. Keselowski’s are 11.2 and 11.6.

That bodes well for Keselowski heading into Sunday. And with so many races on the intermediate ovals, it also should translate into another strong playoff run as the 36-year-old Michigan driver tries to add a second Cup Series championship to his trophy case.

The 2012 NASCAR champion said he mostly agrees that the drive to the championship begins in Las Vegas.

“Daytona is such a crapshoot, and the majority of the tracks, including the championship race (at Homestead-Miami Speedway) were on mile-and-a-halves,” Keselowski said. “But now that the championship race is on a short track (the mile oval at Phoenix), I think there’s no real consensus on that one like there used to be.”

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.