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Brad Keselowski Doesn't Hesitate Naming Greatest NASCAR Driver Ever

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Apr 24, 2025 2:33 PM ET

Brad Keselowski has profound admiration for Richard Petty.

Speaking to NBC Sports' Dustin Long, Keselowski gushed about the seven-time Cup Series champion. He believes the NASCAR icon is the best driver the sport has ever seen.

"It was sometime over the year last year I was thinking about him and how special he is to our sport, really unique person, and I could get on a soapbox here because my personal opinion of Richard Petty is probably different than a lot of people’s opinion of Richard Petty," Keselowski said. "I feel that Richard Petty is the greatest race car driver that ever lived."

Keselowski said his reasoning goes beyond Petty's 200 wins and larger-than-life persona. The 2012 Cup Series champion noted the danger Petty and other drivers of his era risked to compete.

"He raced in an era where the contemporaries he had that at least could win or were top-level drivers would, candidly, not make it out every year, and he himself multiple times barely made it out of big crashes," Keselowski said. "He had the one in Darlington, the couple in Daytona, and not only did he survive those, but he kept racing. And he didn't just keep racing. He kept winning."

While he highlighted Mario Andretti as an honorable contender, Keselowski credited Petty with the "quintessential race car driver story of success, persona, and guts."

Keselowski hadn't interacted with Petty much until they were on the same flight to Washington, D.C., to meet with the National Motorsports Coalition's Congressional committee earlier this month. He called it "awesome" to pick Petty's brain for four or five hours.

"He's got so many amazing stories and has lived a fullest of lives," Keselowski said of Petty. "He's lived 20 people’s lives."

Keselowski said he's inspired by Petty's longstanding loyalty to racing. He noted that it would have been easy for the future Hall of Famer to walk away to be with his family after making enough money.

"He could have done that, but he didn't," Keselowski said. "And, so, you know, asking him, maybe less candidly, those questions and just hearing him and his commitment to the sport and how NASCAR is and what he was and what he always wanted to be, that just blew me away. Nowadays people aren't so much committed to things as I think he was and his generation was."

Keselowski called it "a real honor" to spend time with Petty when sharing Long's article on social media.

"I fear he doesn't get the respect he's earned for his success and commitment to NASCAR over the last six decades," he wrote. "A true legend."

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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