Brad Keselowski is defending NASCAR drivers’ use of private planes this week following Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s family’s crash last week.
The Team Penske driver believes that the way the personal-use transportation enables drivers to be as present as possible for their families overrides any other reason for the racing professionals not to use private planes.
Oddly, Keselowski explained his point by dragging Lebron James into the conversation, pointing to the ways some other professional athletes on teams manage their workloads.
“I understand that most people might not get that concept, but most people aren’t in the situation we’re in as race car drivers that travel every week. We don’t get to skip a week,” Keselowski said according to NBC Sports. “We’re not like LeBron James where we get to sit on the bench or stay home for a week or whatever it is from other sports. This is 38 weeks, and they will run the race without you. And your a– will get fired if you don’t show up.
“So that’s really hard to explain to people. And it’s very hard to explain to your wife and daughter when you miss something that’s really special to them. Private aviation is a great way to try to fill those gaps. And we might get a black eye because of that, but it’s something that I’m really passionate about and very thankful for.”
