Catchfence

In April, Brad Keselowski avoided wrecks in his Chevy Impala at Talladega to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup race, his first and only victory to date in the series.

On Tuesday, the Rochester Hills native swapped rides at the General Motors Orion Assembly plant in Lake Orion and hit every bump on the squeak-and-rattle test track in a shiny new black Chevy Malibu.

“I’m one person who can test a car,” said Keselowski, 25, who drives a restricted Cup schedule for Hendrick Motorsports and a full Nationwide Series for JR Motorsports, owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. “I’m a professional at breaking things.”

Keselowski, followed by a film crew from ESPN, was a guest for the day at the plant, which builds the Malibu and Pontiac G6, and employs more than 3,000 workers. During his stay, Keselowski, who grew up a few miles from the facility, met with salaried and hourly workers and signed autographs. He also got his hands dirty, joining workers on the assembly line installing windshields and programming robotic spot welders that make the machines in the movie “Transformers” look old school.

- Detroit Free Press