One is a young star with a fast car and beer money. The other has struggled through life and took on more debt than he should have to pursue his dream. Yes, they fought. And yes, there was jealousy. But all was right Thursday in the house of Keselowski after 26-year-old #2-Brad pulled up behind his big brother #92-Brian and pushed him to fifth place in a Gatorade Duel qualifying race. Brian, 29, will start 12th in the Daytona 500 Sunday in a 5-year-old car that he, his dad, Bob, and a couple of buddies finished assembling in the Daytona International Speedway garage. “When Brad got back there, I knew this was our chance,” said Brian, who was well behind when Brad spun out on the 40th lap. “If there’s anybody that’s going to push me, it would be Brad. If there was anybody else, there was no way they were going to come and stay on my rear bumper the way that he did.” But push Brad did, using his Roger Penske-owned Miller Lite Dodge to give speed to Brian’s unsponsored machine to finish ahead of defending 500 winner Jamie McMurray among others. Starting on Sunday will be worth more than a quarter-million dollars and means Brian will be able to afford to go to Phoenix next week. Brad congratulated Brian as he sat in his car and wept with joy. But the two haven’t always gotten on so well. Brian was too busy working on his family’s NASCAR truck team to start driving until he was 18, and he was envious when Brad was allowed to race as a kid. Brad’s first Nationwide Series ride, with Keith Coleman, was supposed to have gone to Brian. “Yeah, there’s always a little bit of jealousy,” Brian said. “Then you have to say, ‘What if it wouldn’t have worked?’ We’d both be sitting home.It could go either way. We made our first Daytona 500. I guess it’s not all a bad thing.”(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)(2-18-2011)
