At first, it seemed like a far-fetched idea, one of those wild rumours that crop up from time to time. I mean, Brad Keselowski leaving Penske Racing? And for Roush Fenway of all places? I mean, it’s one thing for him to be jumping the turnstile to head to Stewart-Haas (Gibbs is probably out of the question) but Roush Fenway?
It was like when Frank Thomas joined the Toronto Blue Jays in 2007, it was about 10-15 years too late. During the 1990s and early 2000s, Roush Fenway had drivers that included Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, and Hall of Famer Mark Martin. The team competed, with much success, in all three of NASCAR’s top series and at one point having five full-time teams in the Cup Series
However, by the mid-2010s, those days were gone, with Roush Fenway down to just two Cup teams, with less storied named like Trevor Bayne, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and Chris Buescher filling out their roster. (This is not a knock on Buescher who, in 2021, is doing more with the equipment he has than most people would have expected.)
Meanwhile, Brad Keselowski was racing up front and contending for wins on a weekly basis at Team Penske. What’s more, Brad seemed to be “Team Penske” with good working relationships with teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, not to mention “Captain” Roger Penske. Even with the possibility of taking on an ownership role, similar to what Tony Stewart (Stewart-Haas Racing) and Denny Hamlin (23XI Racing) have done, you might have thought he would have approached Penske to see about such options. (Of course, one must wonder if Penske didn’t want to relinquish any of his ownership stake. He did, after all, purchase Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar Series. Perhaps he is not looking to give up any of his ownership power, forcing Keselowski to look elsewhere.)
The more that “analysts” and “experts” weighed in, the more such a move seemed to make sense. They say the devil is in the details and the fact they already have a new name for the team (“Roush-Fenway-Keselowski Racing (RFK)”) and see Keselowski moving to the #6 just makes the rumours seem all the more plausible.
If Keselowski does move to the #6, it would leave Ryan Newman as the odd driver out. While there has been discussion that RFK Racing could expand to a three-car team for the first time since 2016, I just don’t see it. First of all, why not just keep Newman in the #6 car and bring back the #16 for Keselowski? Also, if Roush Fenway is fielding only mid-level cars with only two entries, would the results not be worse if they tried spreading their resources across three teams?
Even before his scary wreck in the 2020 Daytona 500, one must suspect that Newman would be contemplating stepping away from full-time Cup competition (because no one in NASCAR uses the word “retire”) at the end of the 2021 season, a contract year for him. If Keselowski is slated to be in the #6 and he is out, this presents Newman with an opportunity to announce he is stepping away from NASCAR to devote more time to his family and his Rescue Ranch.
But while Newman’s departure from full-time NASCAR competition would be a bittersweet occasion, there would be some positives to come from Keselowski’s move to Roush Fenway.
For one thing, it would leave an opening in his former ride: the #2 Penske Ford. Poll 100 NASCAR fans and odds are that approximately 90 of them would suggest the spot be filled by the author of NASCAR’s best feel-good story: Matt DiBenedetto.
As he has many times over the past few years, DiBenedetto finds himself unsure of his future. While he is in his second year driving the #21 Ford for the Wood Brothers, that seat is destined for 2020 Xfinity Series champion Austin Cindric.
However, as Wood Brothers Racing has a “technical alliance” with Penske, DiBenedetto and the #21 Ford are seen as teammates, of sorts, to Keselowski, Logano and Blaney (the latter of which drove the #21 before moving to Penske). He is already familiar with the organization and Ford, thus lessoning the learning curve. And while the Wood Brothers team remain one of NASCAR’s most storied organizations, the move to Penske would give DiBenedetto his best chance to score his long-awaited (and certainly emotional) win.
Perhaps the only drawback to the “Matty D to the #2” storyline is that Cindric – and not DiBenedetto – would seem to be the long-term heir apparent to the #2 Penske Ford. When it was announced that Cindric would be heading to Cup to drive for the Wood Brothers, I think most expected this was a brief stop on the way to driving a full-time entry for Penske.
In fact, one might wonder if the Rumour Mill got this particular story one year too early. Perhaps Keselowski is expecting to head to Roush Fenway in 2023, and then Cindric, with a full year of Cup competition in the #21 under his belt, heads to the #2 at that point. With Keselowski’s good working relationship for Roger Penske over the years, this would give Brad the opportunity to give the Captain one final farewell favour, allowing Team Penske to develop Cindric into a Cup driver worthy of a marque ride. The only issue is that while it might give Newman one more year before he retires, it doesn’t solve the problem of where to put Matt DiBenedetto.
Over at Roush Fenway, the addition of Keselowski to their ownership team would pay dividends. Much like DiBenedetto is already familiar with Ford and the Penske organization, Keselowski has driven Fords with Roush-Yates Engines since the switch from Dodge to Ford following his 2012 Championship season.
He would also bring a current driver’s perspective to the Roush Fenway ownership team. That perspective and knowledge would certainly help improve the competitiveness to RFK Racing. While Buescher and Newman might be able to tell certain members of the organization what needs to be improved upon, Keselowski could take the lessons learned on the track to the very top of the organization to affect real change both on and off the track.
Keselowski has long expressed his opinion on what needs to be changes and improved upon in NASCAR. The move to Roush Fenway and ownership would be a welcome mechanism for him to implement those changes for the benefit of himself, his career, RFK Racing and likely NASCAR itself.
They say change can be scary but perhaps this is a chance that would have a lot of positive possibilities for all involved.
johnmilner.ca 