Brad Keselowski 1-on-1: On patriotism, locking in playoff spot, racing in Chicago

The book on Brad Keselowski describes him as a great racing talent, an entrepreneur off the track, a deep thinker and someone who loves to celebrate the military and the United States.

So as NASCAR heads to race on the streets of Chicago for the second straight year around the July 4th holiday, it seemed appropriate to sit down with the 2012 Cup champion who also co-owns RFK Racing. He also owns KAM Manufacturing, which uses the latest 3-D technology to create pieces for space, defense and other industries. 

Keselowski, who snapped a 110-race winless streak earlier this year at Darlington, talked with FOX Sports about his love of country (his foundation works with veterans), racing at Chicago, what it means to make the playoffs and why he questions everything.

Seriously, he questions everything. From the start of this conversation ... 

I wanted to talk to you because you tend to be a bit patriotic ...

So you have a yearly schedule and you're like trying to figure out where to slot drivers in? That's how this works?

And Chicago is a big race. So I kind of want a big name for a big race.

Oh, thank you, Bob. That's really kind. I always wondered how this works.

So are you just a Midwesterner who loves country and was it part of your roots as far as love of country?

It comes from a place of gratitude — gratitude is really important. Perspective of knowledge, which is reading about civilization, time, history — and those two kind of coming together in such a way where you just recognize how fortunate we are to be where we are today. And I'm not saying that our world is perfect. I'm not saying that our country is perfect. But I would rather live here right now than most any other place in time in the world.

And you're