Keselowski's broken leg was so painful he thought a hacksaw might feel better

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Lying on the ground with a broken right leg, NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski was in so much pain that he briefly contemplated taking a Civil War approach to his injury."What was going through my mind was like, 'Oh my God. Think about the soldiers in the Civil War,'" Keselowski said during Daytona 500 media day Wednesday. "They just would cut their leg off right here. And I understood why they would do it because it hurt so bad. It was by far the worst pain I've ever went through."I get why they would bring out the hacksaw. There was part of me that's like, 'That might actually feel better.'"Keselowski suffered the injury when he slipped on ice during a family ski vacation in mid-December. He had surgery a day later and spent weeks rehabbing. He missed the exhibition Clash last week at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.He passed a driving test Monday at Charlotte Motor Speedway and was cleared to get behind the wheel in the No. 6 Ford for RFK Racing. He was using a cane — complete with sponsor decals, of course — to get around Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday."It's hard to explain to people that have never broken their femur before what it's like," said Keselowski, the 2012 Cup Series champion. "It's not the same as breaking your leg below your knee. Your femur is the biggest bone in your body. It's got a lot of things running through it, and it has to heal. You can't really cast it. You can't do any of those things."You just kind of have to tough it out."Keselowski said a full recovery will take roughly six months. He added that he won't know how he will handle the pain until he drives a 60-lap qualifying race Thursday. The toughest part is getting in and out of the car window."I'm eight weeks in, and until about three-to-five weeks in, there was a question if I was going to walk again, let alone drive a race car," he said. "Those were the thoughts that were going through my mind. There were certainly a lot of moments where you're like, 'Ooh, this isn't a layup.' … But until you get in a race car going 190 miles an hour, you don't know. You don't know how it's going to feel."Logano's haircutJoey Logano has a new look for the Daytona 500. Fittingly, he's calling it hair-o-dynamics.Logano showed up at NASCAR's season opener sporting a bald head, a significant change for the 35-year-old Team Penske driver. Just three years ago, Logano had voluminous black locks courtesy of a sponsor that treated him for alopecia and early baldness. The procedure gave him a full head of hair for the first time in a decade.Now, he's taken a 180-degree turn."You can do this haircut at home," Logano quipped.He said the autoimmune disease causes random bald patches that take time to come back. He had a flare-up in the offseason and responded, "Screw it. I'm just shaving it all off." He handed clippers to his 9-year-old son, Hudson, and said "Have at it.""I figured he would have fun doing that," Logano added.Following the suggestion of his wife, Brittany, Logano decided to grow out facial hair to even out his new look. Race is sold out William Byron will try to win his third straight Daytona 500 on Sunday in front of a sellout crowd.Daytona International Speedway announced Wednesday that all reserved grandstand seats have been purchased for the 68th running of "The Great American Race."Though grandstand tickets and camping are sold out for Sunday's marquee event, limited upgrades and premium packages are still available. More than 100,000 fans are expected to pack Daytona.Byron won last year's event in overtime after race leader Denny Hamlin got spun on the final lap, igniting a multicar crash. Byron ended up passing eight cars on the last lap to return to victory lane.Comedian Nate Bargatze will serve as the grand marshal and give the command for drivers to start their engines. Actor Kurt Russell is the honorary pace car driver, and country singer Miranda Lambert will perform a prerace concert. Miss America Cassie Donegan will sing the national anthem.The purse of $31,045,575 is the largest in Daytona 500 history.