Not a mid-air flip in Atlanta in 2010, not the many crashes he has been in throughout his career, Brad Keselowski found himself in a pair of crutches with a broken leg after a family outing in the snow turned disastrous for him. The off-season is a time for NASCAR drivers to relax and spend time with their families before they get back to the nerve-wracking schedule the following year, and the RFK Racing driver was doing just that.

While giving his daughter some skiing lessons, Keselowski found himself in a difficult position when he slipped in the snow and broke his leg. After seeing his pictures, many were concerned whether he would be ready in time for the 2026 Daytona 500, and he might have answered that question.

Brad Keselowski drops a major update on his 2026 NASCAR participation

Within weeks, drivers will return to their cars to prepare for the pre-season Cook Out Clash, scheduled for the 1st of February. However, the #6 Ford will not see Brad Keselowski in the race. He recently dropped an update on his injury, revealing that he wouldn’t be able to participate in the race. Instead, Corey LaJoie will be taking his place in the race.

“I will not be running the Clash,” Keselowski revealed in a social media post. “This is part of the reason I wanted to talk to you about. We’re going to put Corey LaJoie in to run the Clash. So he’s pretty excited.”

Meanwhile, the big question still stands for Keselowski: will he be able to run the Daytona 500? There is not a big enough gap between the two races, and if he is unable to run the Clash, how can he be prepared for the Great American Race?

Well, as it stands, Keselowski mentioned that if he pushed his physiotherapy, he could get ready just in time to participate in the Clash, but that would only make it more dangerous. So there is a possibility that with enough rest, he will be back in the Ford at Daytona later in February.

“I didn’t want to rush back. The team and I kind of decided together that if all the rehab went absolutely perfectly, we’d be ready. Like literally the day of the Clash. And that seemed super foolish and didn’t give us any time to, you know, do any testing on myself or anything like that,” he added.

His injury has taken a long time to heal. However, it was expected, considering the type of fracture he had.

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What part of Keselowski’s leg was fractured?

While it was a little unclear from the social media posts, Brad Keselowski revealed that he broke the femur right below his hip. The femur is the part of the human thigh and is also the longest bone in the body.

This was a very painful ordeal for Keselowski as he continues the recovery with the physiotherapy sessions. In fact, a fracture in the femur is one of the most painful ones to have; moreover, it can also damage the internal organs. While his injury was not fatal, Keselowski has been trying to recover.

As he said, he might be ready on the day of the Clash to get back in the car, but pushing so hard for the therapy can worsen his situation. There is also the fact that he wouldn’t get any practice sessions. Furthermore, much force is exerted on the femur while braking and accelerating, so it could turn bad for him.

Hence, resting seems to be the best solution for Brad Keselowski at this point. Regardless, there is a very good possibility that he will be back on track before the Cup Series moves to the Daytona International Speedway for the season-opener.