Jeff Gluck: Did Brad Keselowski make the right move by going to Penske?
Brad Keselowski will compete for Penske Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2010. // David Exum, NASCAR Scene
COMMENTARY
Before you could even say his last name, Brad Keselowski’s decision to join Penske Racing next year was already being debated.
Was it the right move for the young driver? Will he improve the No. 12 team’s performance in his first season?
Fair or not, the 12 team hasn’t been viewed lately as a place where drivers can succeed.
Ryan Newman was 18th, 13th and 17th in points the last three years, respectively, in that car. This year, after leaving the team complaining that it wasn’t doing enough to win, he’s seventh.
His replacement, David Stremme, has been a disappointment in what turned out to be his only season in the 12 car – a 31st-place standing in the points so far.
Meanwhile, the other Penske cars have improved dramatically over last year. Kurt Busch is sixth in points (he was 18th in 2008), and Sam Hornish Jr. is 27th (he was 35th last season).
The No. 12 team wasn’t getting any better with Stremme in the car, and Penske officials must have seen enough to realize they needed to try someone else.
So now comes Keselowski, which seems like a step in the right direction for the team. After all, he has as many Sprint Cup wins this year as the entire Penske organization (one).
But was it the right move for the driver?
Keselowski, 25, has three top-10 finishes this year, including the unforgettable Talladega win and a seventh-place finish at Darlington – the latter a difficult feat for anyone, let alone a rookie.
To wit: Brian Vickers, Casey Mears and Juan Pablo Montoya have zero career top-10s at Darlington.
He has been impressive but shined in mostly Hendrick-powered equipment.
This isn’t exactly breaking news, but Penske isn’t Hendrick. No one is right now. Every other multicar team in the garage can basically be lumped together as second-tier organizations compared to Hendrick.
It won’t last forever, though, and Keselowski had to make his choice based on potential and future performance – both the team’s and his own. Where would give him the best chance to succeed?
Ultimately, based on all the information available to him, Keselowski realized Penske isn’t a bad place for a guy to start his Cup career.
After all, Penske has had multiple teams make the Chase before – in 2005, Newman and Rusty Wallace both finished in the top 10.
And with Roger Penske as an owner, you would think the team wouldn’t settle for mediocrity – though Newman’s comments on the way out the door seemed to call that into question.
Keselowski has all the tools to be a solid Cup driver right away. Will he run up front and lead laps in his first season at Penske? No, probably not. But he has a legitimate shot at finishing in the top 20 in points next season, which would improve the No. 12 team’s performance dramatically.
He will enter Cup competition as perhaps the most qualified newcomer since Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer. The “old way” of getting to the Sprint Cup Series (before bringing talented open-wheel drivers like Dario Franchitti and Scott Speed into the top level and throwing them to the wolves) was proving yourself in the Nationwide Series first through a couple seasons of competition. Keselowski has done that and has already won at the Cup level to boot.
Keselowski’s Talladega Cup win and recent Michigan Nationwide win have shown that the driver has an impeccable sense of timing.
The same could be said about the Penske decision: It was the best move he could make right now.
