Corey LaJoie will take Brad Keselowski’s place in the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford for the Feb. 1 NASCAR Clash event that unofficially kicks off the 2026 Cup Series season.
The move comes as Keselowski continues his recovery from a broken leg suffered on a family ski trip in December.
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“I’m happy for Corey to get this opportunity. I’m laser focused on being ready for Daytona,” Keselowski said in a statement announcing the move.
Keselowski, 41, spoke at length with Fox Sports about the decision to have LaJoie run the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium and his recovery from a broken femur that also caused some nerve damage.
“I didn’t want to rush back,” Keselowski told Fox Sports. “The team and I made the decision together that if all the rehab went absolutely perfect, we’d be ready like, literally, the day of the Clash.
“And that seemed super foolish and didn’t give us any time to do any testing on myself or anything like that.”
Keselowski is determined to return for the Dayton 500, which is slated to run this year on Feb. 15.
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The 2012 Cup Series champion called it “kind of a freak accident” − he slipped and fell on ice getting out of his car.
“I just fell perfectly on a spot that broke my leg,” Keselowski told Fox Sports. “I wish it was some cooler story than that, like jumping or doing something on the slopes.
“I think everybody thinks I did it on the slopes, which sounds a lot cooler than the actual story I have, but it just was a freak accident.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brad Keselowski injury update, latest on recovery
