TALLADEGA, Ala. — Brad Keselowski has made considerable progress in his recovery from a broken femur. Yet, he needed a bit of a reality check, one that gave him some more patience.
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The 2012 Cup Series champion recently expressed some frustration at the level of progress he has made since breaking his femur falling on the ice in mid-December. He can do most of the things he needs in his daily life, but he still has limitations.
"I was talking to my physical therapist this week and they knew someone who had the same injury in a similar timeframe," Keselowski said Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway.
"And when I was kind of sharing my displeasure with not being further ahead than I am, they reminded me that that other person, who is younger than me, had just now started walking. So I was like, 'OK, maybe I'm ahead of where I should be.'"
The progress was evident on Saturday morning as Keselowski headed into the media center. He had on an RFK Racing vest covering a Detroit Lions shirt, but his outfit lacked an accessory.
He had ditched the cane that he has used since returning to NASCAR at the Daytona 500. He walked slowly with a noticeable hitch in his giddy-up, but he moved well overall as he made his way to the podium.
This isn't a permanent move, as he revealed. He still needs the cane at certain points. It all just depends on the situation and what else is going on in his life.
"I wanted to be rid of my cane on the off week when we came back however many weeks ago that was - two or three weeks ago," he said. "That didn't end up being the case, unfortunately, but I'm really close. I'm probably like back and forth. There are some days I feel really good and there are some days I'm a little bit too sore to pull it off.
"Honestly, it depends on the see-saw battle of rehab and training. The more rehab and training I do it seems like the more I need my cane, and then being at the racetrack how long I have to walk.
"Short walks, I'm fine, but you come to a track like Talladega with as big as it is you go to the grid and it's a 100-yard walk at least and it's like there's no reason for me to risk getting hurt on the way to the car and particularly in the crowd."
Keselowski will continue with his recovery as the season progresses. He will keep taking part in physical therapy while pushing to ditch the cane. Sure, this process will frustrate him at times, but he can also look at other situations and realize that he's much further ahead than expected.
