NASCAR: Top 5 free agents after Brad Keselowski’s deal
By Asher Fair
With Brad Keselowski’s new deal official, here are the top five remaining free agents for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.
At long last, the deal involving Brad Keselowski leaving Team Penske and joining Roush Fenway Racing as not only a driver but a team co-owner for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season was confirmed last month.
This deal was reportedly done in March, and it was leaked in May before multiple sources reported that it was effectively a “done deal”.
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Roush Fenway Racing and Keselowski simply didn’t want to confirm it out of respect for Team Penske, which confirmed Austin Cindric as Keselowski’s replacement behind the wheel of the #2 Ford for next year less than a week before the big move was announced.
With this news now official, who are the top five remaining free agents on the market for next year?
Top 5 free agents for 2022: No. 5 – Matt DiBenedetto
Many would argue that Matt DiBenedetto got a raw deal. The perennial free agent of the NASCAR Cup Series is again staring silly season in the face without a ride for next year, and it didn’t have to be this way.
Last year, he was told that he would be back with Wood Brothers Racing in 2021, but with Austin Cindric set to replace him behind the wheel of the #21 Ford in 2022. The move made sense; Cindric is a highly touted prospect at Team Penske’s Xfinity Series team, and Wood Brothers Racing have a technical alliance with Team Penske.
But with Keselowski making the move to Roush Fenway Racing, it was announced that Cindric would instead move straight to Team Penske’s Cup Series team for 2022, a ride that DiBenedetto had also been linked to.
However, not only did DiBenedetto not land with Team Penske; he didn’t end up landing a new deal with Wood Brothers Racing, even with Cindric out of the picture. Harrison Burton is set to replace him next year.
But this wasn’t completely unexpected. DiBenedetto has had multiple opportunities to win races in the Cup Series, despite never driving for a top-tier team, yet he hasn’t converted. Winners get hired, and his most recent win came in the 2011 K&N Pro Series East season. If he can get a win before the 2021 season ends, he should be considered in a much different light as far as his free agent market value is concerned.