NASCAR: 3 drivers who could pull a Tom Brady move
By Asher Fair
Brad Keselowski
Aside of Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski is the longest tenured driver at any one team in the NASCAR Cup Series whose contract expires at the end of the 2020 season.
He signed a multi-year contract extension with Team Penske back in July in 2017, and while teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney are both under contract with the team for at least another three seasons, the 36-year-old Rochester Hills, Michigan native is a pending free agent.
Not all of Keselowski’s starts in the Cup Series have come with Roger Penske’s team. As a JR Motorsports driver in the Xfinity Series back in 2008 and 2009, he competed in select Cup Series races for Hendrick Motorsports and Phoenix Racing in the Cup Series during those two seasons.
He made his Team Penske debut late in the 2009 season, and he hasn’t missed a race since, officially becoming a full-time driver the following year.
Keselowski has stated that the negotiation process on a new deal has not yet begun with Team Penske, but he hasn’t ruled out leaving the team after 11-plus seasons, either.
He did, however, shoot down retirement rumors, and he noted that there are “a lot of really good rides out there” and that he would be willing to listen should a team “dial in”, but that he will not be the one “dialing out”.
The most likely landing spot for him outside of Team Penske and the #2 Ford would be Hendrick Motorsports to replace Johnson behind the wheel of the #48 Chevrolet, given his past ties to the team and the fact that they would have signed him out of the Xfinity Series had they had the room to do so.
The other “good rides” out there include rides with Stewart-Haas Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing, as there are quite a few drivers who are in contract years competing for those organizations.