The big break for 24-year-old Brad Keselowski came in the Federated Auto Parts 300 at the Nashville Superspeedway on June 7, 2008. With only 10 laps to go, a caution was thrown, giving Brad the opening he’d been waiting for. The 2007 Rookie of the Year zipped past David Reutimann for second place, easily passing Sprint Cup driver Clint Bowyer to win the race.

Team owner Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was thrilled with the win. "We've been waiting for this for a long, long time, and I knew it would happen with Brad and Tony (Eury) Sr. Putting them together, I knew they were going to give us the opportunity to win sooner or later."

After the race, Brad gushed, "To be able to prove to him [Dale Earnhardt, Jr.] that that he picked the right guy with me--I'm very happy for that." Brad finished the 2008 season with two Nationwide Series wins, one pole award, 11 top-five finishes and 20 top-10 finishes. Ranked third behind Clint Bowyer and Carl Edwards in driver points, Brad was the highest-finishing series-only regular in his first full year of competition.

As it turns out, 2008 was a good year for both Earnhardt and Keselowski. Both won most popular driver awards in their divisions - Dale Jr. in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driving the # 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, and Keselowski in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driving the # 88 Chevy for JR Motorsports. Fans voted online to pick the winner in each series.

"This was a breakout year for Brad," Dale Jr. commented afterwards, "and it's really cool that the fans recognized his talents and personality enough to cast their votes for him.”"

Brad had a few words of his own about the award. "To be voted by the fans to win the Nationwide Series Most Popular Driver award really puts an exclamation point on this season,” he said. "I think back to where I was two years ago, and consider myself so fortunate to be in this position at JR Motorsports. The fans have been extremely supportive of me, and I can't thank them enough for this award and the continued support they show."

Brad was recognized at the black-tie NASCAR Nationwide Series awards banquet in Orlando, FL, on Nov 30, along with his Nationwide Series Teammate and 2008 Raybestos Rookie of the Year Landon Cassill, also sponsored by GoDaddy.com.