Brad Keselowski, girlfriend Paige White, expecting baby girl - MotorSportsTalk

Now Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch can be linked in another way.

Tough competitors on the track and team owners off it, they’ll share another common trait – both will become a dad in 2015.

Keselowski announced in a blog on his website that girfriend Paige White is due to deliver a baby girl. Keselowski did not give a date for the baby’s arrival. Busch’s wife, Samantha is due to deliver a baby boy in May. This follows the birth of Kyle Larson’s son, Owen, who was born in December.

Keselowski, 30, addressed the matter of having a child before being married in his blog:

“I know that we’re not doing this in the traditional order of things. I will simply say this: I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life, and Paige is a very large part of that. She’s an amazing person. She’s soft-spoken, well-educated and smart. She’s beautiful, which never hurts. Most importantly, she understands who I am and where I’ve come from in ways that most people wouldn’t know or understand. Her family, which is extremely supportive and feels like an extension of my own, came from very humble beginnings, just like mine did. She’s seen the world from a lot of different perspectives that most people never get to see.’’

Keselowski also had a request about his daughter-to-be.

“I do have one request of fans and the media regarding my daughter-to-be,’’ he wrote. “Some of you like me. Some of you dislike me. You all share your thoughts with me via social media, or in person at the tracks. I have no problem with any of that, good or bad. I’m a public figure, and that’s what I’ve signed up for. But the baby girl we’re having hasn’t signed up for any of that. So if you can keep the focus on me, that would mean a lot to us.’’

An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”