Brad Keselowski Pushes Big Brother Brian Into Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Brian Keselowski was still sitting in his race car on Daytona International Speedway's pit road well after the checkered flag when his little brother Brad leaned in for a hug and a congratulatory word. It wasn't a victory, but the Brothers Keselowski provided the unquestionable feel-good story of Thursday's Daytona 500 qualifying races.

Driving a barely-sponsored, five-year-old race car, Brian Keselowski will make his debut in the Daytona 500 Sunday, thanks to the kindest shove he ever received from the little brother he used to wrestle as a kid.

After spinning early in Thursday's Gatorade Duel qualifier, Brad Keselowski, 27, fell to the rear of the field and had to drive his No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge back up through the pack.

On his way, he dropped the famous Penske Racing "Blue Deuce" in behind Brian, 29, and literally pushed -- and willed -- his big brother's wayward No. 4 Dodge forward during the second half of the race. Brian finished fifth, Brad seventh, and for the first time in their lives, they will have the opportunity to compete against one another in NASCAR's Super Bowl.

"Oh, my God,'' an emotional Brian Keselowski said after climbing from his car. "He's got to be the best pusher here. ... I've watched him push others for the past three years and to push me into the Daytona 500 today. .. ''

"I'm gonna ask Roger (Penske) to help him out with a little better motor,'' Brad Keselowski joked afterward.

"He (Brian) has helped my family out his whole life, so it was good to be there for him today,'' a grinning Brad Keselowski added.

Despite being older, Brian Keselowski never got the big break his younger brother did. Tasked to help out the family's trucking business, Brian didn't start racing until he was 18. And while Brad was winning the 2010 Nationwide Series championship for Penske last year, his brother was making sporadic starts in under-funded, underdog cars fielded by the boys' father, Bob, a former racer himself.

In fact, Brian Keselowski and his father prepared this very car themselves, although they convinced an uncle and a couple of more friends to come down from their native Michigan to help this week. They still don't have a full-time pit crew.

"We struggled just to get here, I mean we were putting our car together at the race track,'' Brian Keselowski said. "I don't know that I'd want it any other way, though. I feel like I have a good knowledge of cars working from the inside out.

"It can only get better from here.''

Joking that his little brother was still a "snotty-nosed kid," Keselowski insisted he rarely gets to spend much time with him anymore because of Brad's many duties in a high-profile Sprint Cup Series ride. They do talk, however, and Brad offered a few tips on what to expect in Thursday's race. But Brian insisted it didn't occur to him that they might partner up in the race because, "I didn't feel I even had a chance to keep up with him.''

"So it feels absolutely awesome,'' Brian Keselowski said. "I obviously wouldn't be here without Brad. And this just shows you have a chance, no matter what, if you find the right guy to push you. Thank God it was my brother. I don't know if anyone else would have stuck with me that long.''

Brian Keselowski's paycheck, even should he finish last in the Daytona 500, will be close to $250,000 -- an amount greater than he earned in all of 2011.

"I'll finally be able to pay off all my bills,'' Brian Keselowski joked. "And I'll be able to go to Phoenix (the next Sprint Cup Series race) next week.''

For now, the Keselowskis will celebrate at Daytona as if they won. In the big picture, it sure feels like they did.

"That was awesome, I loved seeing that,'' two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip said, offering his congratulations during his post-race news conference.

"I thought that was really cool.''

Added second Duel race winner Jeff Burton, "That is what our sport is all about. It's about heart, it's about desire.''