Born in Rochester Hills, Michigan in 1981, Brian Keselowski is the older brother of 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski, and the son and nephew of former drivers Bob and Ron Keselowski, respectively. He graduated from Rochester High School in 1999, balancing his studies with work as a jackman for the family racing team, K-Automotive Motorsports. He attended night classes to accommodate his racing commitments, even leaving his senior prom early to assist the team.
Keselowski began his racing career in super late model events, earning rookie-of-the-year honors at Auto City Speedway in 2000. He made his stock car debut in the ARCA RE/MAX Series in 2004, driving the No. 29 Competition Graphics Dodge for Bob Ducharme, achieving three top-ten finishes and finishing 34th in points. In 2005, his family purchased the team, and he secured five consecutive top-ten finishes.
In 2007, Keselowski ran a career-high twelve races in the ARCA RE/MAX Series, splitting time between his family team and the No. 5 Lucas Oil Pontiac for Bobby Gerhart, winning twice and finishing 22nd in points. He also made four starts in the NASCAR Busch Series, including his first top ten finish at Memphis Motorsports Park. The following season, he made 11 starts, beginning in the No. 28 Jay Robinson Racing Chevy before moving to his family's No. 92, co-owned with Dusty Whitney.
For 2009, Keselowski attempted a full-time season in the Nationwide Series for Whitney and K-Automotive Motorsports, renumbering the car with the No. 26. The Detroit Red Wings National Hockey League team sponsored his car during the 2009 CarQuest Auto Parts 300. He ran eighteen races but stepped aside for twelve of the final fifteen events to serve as crew chief. During the 2010 season, he qualified for 26 of 35 events, finishing eleventh in the season-opening event at Daytona, but averaging a 34th-place finish overall.
During 2010, Keselowski attempted to qualify for three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, including the August race at Bristol Motor Speedway, but failed to qualify for any of them. In early 2011, he declared his intention to compete for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie Of The Year title, though Andy Lally later also pursued the award. The move to the Cup Series was driven by economic considerations, as the costs of competing in the Nationwide Series were comparable to a Sprint Cup effort.
Qualifying for the 2011 Daytona 500, Keselowski posted the slowest time of the 48 cars that attempted to qualify, requiring a top-two finish in the second Gatorade Duel to secure a starting position. With assistance from his brother Brad, he finished fifth in the Duel and started twelfth in the Daytona 500. He received support from Evernham Motorsports and Penske Racing, though the Penske engine could not be fitted in time. Keselowski was involved in a wreck on lap 29, finishing 41st. He failed to qualify for the next two races.
In March 2011, Keselowski underwent gallbladder surgery due to severe abdominal pain, with Dennis Setzer filling in for races at Bristol and Martinsville. Keselowski returned to the No. 92 team for races at Richmond and Darlington in May, but failed to qualify for either. K-Automotive switched to Chevrolet for Michigan and received a one-race sponsorship deal with Melling Auto Parts, but again failed to qualify.
In 2012, the team competed in two ARCA Racing Series events, teaming with Sinica Motorsports at Mobile International Speedway and Berlin Raceway, where Keselowski posted his best finish of the season, 23rd. In 2013, Keselowski attempted to compete in the Daytona 500 with Hamilton Means Racing, but failed to qualify after starting 23rd in the Budweiser Duel and finishing 21st. He also ran at Watkins Glen, finishing 39th.
In 2015, Keselowski replaced an injured Austin Theriault in the No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing entry in the Camping World Truck Series at Talladega Superspeedway, leading ten laps before running out of fuel during a green-white-checkered finish and finishing seventeenth. After stepping away from driving, Keselowski transitioned to a crew chief role, working with Stefan Parsons in late model racing before joining Premium Motorsports in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He later joined MBM Motorsports as Chad Finchum's crew chief before leaving the team after approximately a year.
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