They shouldn't have bothered.
Keselowski gutted out the pain and made good on his promise, exiting his car only after it had reached Victory Lane - where he showered his crew with some of his sponsor's beer in celebration of winning the Good Sam RV Insurance 500.
"Today feels like a real win, for all the adversity we overcame," said Keselowski, whose sentiments quickly turned to his cousin, a Navy Seal who recently lost a friend.
"I'm no hero, I just drive a racecar for a living," he said. "Heroes are the guys that died in Afghanistan this weekend, and I want to spend time thinking about them. Those are my heroes."
The race was halted for 1 hour, 40 minutes due to rain with 75 laps to go, and it appeared that leader and pole sitter Joey Logano might come away with his second career victory.
But the weather and track turned in Keselowski's favor, as the sun reemerged and the No. 2 Dodge came to life.
Keselowski surged toward the front, snatching the lead away from Kyle Busch on a restart with 16 laps remaining and then prevailing with a sprint to the finish line.
Kurt Busch, Keselowski's teammate, outdueled Jimmie Johnson for third.
"I was amazed that Brad raced the whole race," Kurt Busch said. "My thought was that this is a place where you can swap out a driver without losing a lap. But this was Brad's day."
With five races remaining to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Keselowski helped his cause by winning for the second time this season and climbing to 18th in the standings.
Series leader Carl Edwards finished seventh and left Pocono with a nine-point edge over Johnson. Six drivers are within 26 points of first place, as the series shifts to Watkins Glen International on Sunday.
