HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Brad Keselowski has been outspoken throughout the 2017 season regarding the nose of the Toyota Camry Cup Series cars. After Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. won Sunday night’s race at Homestead on his way to the championship ahead of Toyota driver Kyle Busch, Keselowski said the advantage he felt Toyota had was a bit like Formula 1.
“When that car rolled out at Daytona, and I think we all got to see it for the first time, I think there was two reactions: One we couldn’t believe NASCAR approved it and two we were impressed by the design team over there. You know, with that said, I don’t think anyone was really — ever had a shot this year the second that thing got put on the racetrack and approved.”
“It kind of felt like Formula 1 where you had one car that made it through the gates heads and tails above everyone and your hands are tied because you’re not allowed to do anything to the cars in those categories that NASCAR approves to really catch up.”
Keselowski, who was racing for the title against Busch, Truex and fellow Ford driver Kevin Harvick, finished seventh Sunday night.
Truex won eight races in 2017 and Busch won five. They were the winningest drivers in the series. Couple those wins with Denny Hamlin’s two and Matt Kenseth’s victory two weeks ago at Phoenix and Toyota drivers won 16 of the 36 Cup Series races in 2017.
In August, Busch called Keselowski a “moron” after Keselowski speculated that the Toyota teams were holding back at Michigan in anticipation of possible NASCAR testing to see if one manufacturer had an advantage over the others. Then, in September as the playoffs started at Chicago, Keselowski again said Toyota had an advantage.
In 2018, Chevrolet will debut the Camaro in the Cup Series. Chevrolet drivers have noted the current (now past) car’s aerodynamic deficiencies and hope the Camaro will be better than its SS counterpart.
Ford, meanwhile, isn’t planning on making any modifications to its cars for 2018, according to Keselowski.
“As to what will happen for 2018, you know, I don’t know,” Keselowski said. “I would assume that Chevrolet will be allowed to design a car the same way that Toyota was for this one, but Ford doesn’t have any current plans for that. If that’s the case we’re going to take a drubbing next year, so we’ll have to see.”
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
