Could Keselowski Replace Gordon At Hendrick Motorsports?

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

No matter what fans of Jeff Gordon may want to believe, there is going to come a day when the driver of the No. 24 retires from NASCAR. Given his impressive run in 2014 (a run that could still end with a championship) retirement seems further off than it did following the 2013 season. However, times catches up with everyone and Gordon is much closer to the end of his storied career than he is the beginning.

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So, when Gordon retires who is going to take over his ride?

Initially many believed that the future of Chase Elliott was behind the wheel of the No. 24 car and they still may be. Elliott is slated to run a full-time schedule in the Xfinity Series in 2015. Many people in the sport believe that Elliott will make the move to Sprint Cup in 2016. If this is the case and Gordon wins a title this season or next, it’s plausible that Gordon may retire allowing Elliott to take over the ride.

However, if Gordon has a 2015 that is anything like his 2014 it’s hard to imagine him walking away. It was one thing when Gordon was barely making the chase but now that he appears to be contending for a championship the script has changed. Also, with the addition of the new championship format the title hopes of all the drivers (including Gordon) have improved with four drivers on equal footing heading into the final race. If Gordon doesn’t step down in 2016 to make way for Elliott that might mean that Kasey Kahne will not be re-signed. Regardless, that doesn’t answer the question of who would take over the No. 24 ride.

How about Brad Keselowski?

Sounds insane of me to even suggest right? Well, consider this; Keselowski used to be a part of Team Hendrick before being signed away by Team Penske in 2009. After Keselowski signed with Penske, Rick Hendrick had the following to say about it to ESPN.

"Whoever you go drive for, just tell them don’t get pissed off when I come after you."

Granted, that was then and this is now and in the now Keselowski may have burned any remaining bridges with Team Hendrick. The brawl at Texas aside, Keselowski has questioned Team Hendrick a few times over the last five years in regards to pushing the boundaries. During one of those times Keselowski even suggested that HMS goes out of their way to keep top engineers from going to other teams.

While his words and actions might get him into trouble, Keselowski can also back it up as far as results are concerned. Keselowski won the Sprint Cup in 2012 and is in contention to win his second this season. On top of that Keselowski wins races, which is what this sport is all about (aside from winning titles of course). Keselowski has six wins in 2014 which leads the series.

Keselowski is currently signed with Penske through 2017, which is also the same amount of time that the majority of his sponsors are signed on for. What happens if Gordon retires after the 2017 season at the age of 46? Would Team Hendrick try to bring in a driver like Keselowski who would only be 33 years old following that season? Keselowski would already have one title to his credit and it’s quite possible that he might have another. Hendrick does like championship drivers that know how to win races.

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It would be more than fair to say that a lot has to happen for Keselowski to even be available to drive for Team Hendrick again but it’s nowhere outside the realm of possibility. In fact, the odds will increase if Gordon races in 2016 and Elliott takes over Kahne’s ride because that would leave a vacancy in Gordon’s spot when he retires. One also has to take into consideration the age of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and whether he will still be racing after the 2017 in the Sprint Cup Series. Do you think Hendrick would ever go after Keselowski? Be sure to comment below and let us know.

Christopher Olmstead is the Editor of BeyondTheFlag.com on the FanSided Network. Follow us on Twitter @Beyond_The_Flag and “Like” us on Facebook.

~Unless otherwise noted any quotes in this article were obtained from press releases via the driver or the team.~

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