Graveyard Ghosts: Keselowski’s No. 88 Chevy from Fontana

Driver: Brad Keselowski

Car: No. 88 U.S. Navy Seabee Chevrolet

Track: Auto Club Speedway (Sept. 1, 2007)

Bio: Only six races into his JR Motorsports career, Brad Keselowski drove this special paint scheme commemorating the 65th Anniversary of the Navy Seabees at California’s Auto Club Speedway in 2007. Just prior to the halfway mark, this Chevrolet met its untimely fate after Keselowski was collected in a spectacular crash.

Coming off Turn 4, Keselowski had a huge run and ran the low line underneath AJ Allmendinger, J.J. Yeley and Eric McClure going into Turn 1. Yeley nudged Allmendinger, which sent him sideways and into the right rear quarter panel of the unsuspecting JRM driver. Keselowski spun and hit the wall head on in the middle of Turns 1 and 2. The impact sent the car ricocheting through the air, and then Allmendinger piled in right behind, tagging the No. 88 and putting it back into the wall, this time with the bottom of the car first. The collision triggered a fire, and Keselowski rode the wall ablaze to the exit of Turn 2 with right-side tires on top of the wall. He came to a stop at the bottom of the corner, still on fire. He was awake and alert when the crash ended, but was transported via helicopter to the hospital.

“I think I’m OK, guys,” he radioed to the team while still sliding down the track. He finished 35th. The team managed to get the car back into the transporter and back to the shop, and it left soon to become a permanent fixture in the Racecar Graveyard.