Ahead of the NASCAR Cup season in 2022, Brad Keselowski decided to take on a new role in a new team. He went from being a driver at Team Penske to now being a driver as well as a part-owner of the Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing team.

Naturally, Keselowski was motivated to do well, to score as many points and good results as possible, to come first in races. However, neither of those things have happened except for one – Brad Keselowski has come first.

But not in something he or for that matter, anybody would’ve wanted to come first at.

That thing is being the first driver and team to be on the wrong end of NASCAR’s newly designed, much stricter penalty system.

And the manner in which the RFK driver and his team have been penalized has clearly sent out a big signal to every single team and driver on the grid. NASCAR isn’t messing around this season. If someone breaks the rules, they will pay a heavy price for it.

This message is loud, and this message is clear, considering what Keselowski’s former teammate Joey Logano had to say on this subject.

“I’m pretty sure it scares the hell out of everyone,” Logano said ahead of Sunday’s race in Austin. “They (NASCAR) said they were gonna put the foot down.”

Logano confessed that he doesn’t know what really the issue was with the No.6 Mustang of his former teammate. But what he knows for sure is that the “penalty was huge.” 

“We probably shouldn’t screw around,” the Clash winner added.

Brad Keselowski first specimen of the “culture shift” in NASCAR penalty system

Before this season kicked off, NASCAR senior vice president of competition Scott Miller put emphasis on how serious they were for the new penalties that had very real, very serious consequences for any violations.

“To make sure all of those (inspection) things stay above board, there’s going to have to be a culture shift from the way the teams and NASCAR, for that matter, have done business,” Miller said.

NASCAR believes the new penalty model has “more meat in it,” along with the aspect of “more meaningful” penalties, something which Brad Keselowski and RFK Racing’s sanctions have now proven for everyone.

Also Read: Brad Keselowski’s Nightmare Turns Worse as NASCAR Issues Fresh Sanctions After Crew Chief Ban & $100K Fine