After missing the elusive victory for years, Brad Keselowski came rather close to winning the Daytona 500. However, he was unable to go all the way to the checkered flag. The final lap pileup collected him and ended his race in a flash. Coming back from a terrible injury and the looming danger of missing the race, Brad Keselowski was looking forward to winning the Daytona 500 once he found himself a good run to the front. During his post-race interview, he did not hold back his feelings about the entire altercation he had.

Brad Keselowski gives an honest review of the Daytona 500 pileup

Post-race, Brad Keselowski seems more than happy about his performance. He was unable to bring it home for RFK Racing, but the last lap made it clear he can still perform well. Keselowski had an impressive run from the back of the pack towards the front. According to him, he would’ve achieved better results if not for Riley Herbst.

“Great, I feel really good. The race went really well, and I really felt at one with the car. Kind of crashed at the end, couldn’t even feel it. So pretty good.”

“Oh, the 35 just wrecked me out of nowhere for no reason. That was one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen. He had no chance of blocking my run, I had a huge run. I don’t know if I could have made it to 45, but I would have liked to find out, because my run was coming up fast. And the 35 just wrecked himself and us. Pretty stupid.”

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For Keselowski, the “stupid” mistake that Riley Herbst committed was trying to block his run at that point. Keselowski says he could’ve blocked one lane he was driving in, instead of going all the way up from the bottom to crash him out.

“I felt really good in the car; it felt really good getting through the crash, and I was happy for that. I thought, well, a one-lane block kind of makes sense. But to block from the very bottom all the way up to the top and wreck yourself and everybody else is just stupid. Very, very stupid.”

Despite his wreck and lack of points, Keselowski seems confident about his season going forward. He was able to get up to speed pretty quickly during the last lap. Meanwhile, the other drivers were left managing their tires and saving fuel to finish the race.

“I’m proud to make it this far. You know, a few weeks ago, I wasn’t sure I’d get through the race and have a chance to win. That feels pretty good. Just disappointed not bringing it home.

“I felt good about just being in position, for sure. You know, at the end, it’s a roll of the dice and who is going to wreck who and make good moves or bad moves. And the dice didn’t fully roll our way.”

Keselowski’s harsh critique of Riley Herbst makes it even worse for him. Coming into the 2026 season, Herbst has a lot to prove to his team owner.

Riley Herbst had the worst start he could’ve asked for

Riley Herbst didn’t really have a great campaign in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

In five seasons, he could only manage three wins and a best finish of P7 in the driver standings. When he graduated to the Cup Series with Denny Hamlin‘s 23XI Racing, Herbst was no better.

He ruined his first season with a meager P35 finish in the championship in 2025. Riley Herbst was unable to turn the flashes of brilliance during races into solid finishes.

Nevertheless, Denny Hamlin has allowed him a second chance to improve his performance. Herbst recognizes the responsibility he shoulders.

“We had good enough racecars, we have good enough team members, and I’m a good enough driver to have better results this year. It’s as simple as that. I think we are all on the same page with what we expect and what we want, and that’s to be better this year than last year.”

What’s worse is the fact that he has another contender for the seat. Corey Heim is running multiple events with 23XI Racing this year. If Herbst fails to deliver on his talent and gets overshadowed by Heim, he might end up getting replaced rather quickly. After all, Heim is coming with a lot of star power and the recent confidence that he can steamroll to his championship title in the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

The Daytona 500 pileup is something Herbst will want to avoid if he wants to keep his seat moving forward in the season. Do you think that Corey Heim is the potential replacement for Herbst?