Brad Keselowski had a solid run and finished sixth at Darlington in the first race of the 2023 Cup Series playoffs. During a guest appearance on “NASCAR Race Hub,” the RFK Racing co-owner revisited the night and raised eyebrows with one of his remarks directed at Hendrick Motorsports executive and fellow guest Chad Knaus, calling him a “babysitter” while discussing the late-race incident between Alex Bowman and Daniel Suarez.
The nightly show reviewed the contact between the Trackhouse Racing and HMS cars in the final stage, which started when Bowman made a pair of blocks on the No. 99, the latter move resulting in both cars crashing and ending their nights early. In post-race interviews, each driver called out the other for making “dumb” moves.
Knaus addressed the incident and drivers’ comments on the show.
“That’s really disappointing. We just got to keep working on it,” Knaus admitted. “And I think that that’s a lot of relationship-based. There’s some damage there that needs to get fixed and then you won’t be in that situation, right? I think there’s a little bit right there that we need some curing. And we’ll get to the root of that.
“I’m really sad for the 48. Those guys went a lap down early. They fought back. They got themselves in a position to run in the top 10. It’s unfortunate that we got into the 99 and ruined their night as well. It was just tough.”
Show host Shannon Spake asked Keselowski, as a driver, what he saw in the incident and if it was just “tough racing.”
“I see job security for Chad,” the 2012 Cup Series champion said, smiling. “Whenever there’s a lot of problems, you need people like Chad to come in and solve them. When people ask Chad, ‘What do you do?’ You’re like, ‘Well, I’m kind of a babysitter. Example 1.'”
There’s no doubt Knaus has job security as the vice president of competition at HMS, an organization with a rich history of success, which he was an instrumental part of building, winning seven titles with Jimmie Johnson. But based on his comments and uncomfortable reaction, he’d much rather serve his role addressing his team’s racing performance while avoiding the conflicts as much as possible.