Marshall’s Madness: Penske signed Keselowski too long!
A few years ago, Brad Keselowski won the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway for his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) win and that’s when Roger Penske discovered his raw talent. Penske moved Keselowski up to the highest-level in NASCAR hoping for success, and “Bad” Brad didn’t disappoint. Keselowski had a break out year in 2012, winning the NSCS Championship and giving Miller Lite its first NASCAR title along with Roger Penske.
Since that night in Homestead Miami Speedway Keselowski has went dry. He hasn’t seen victory lane and has had just plain bad luck. Roger Penske and Keselowski might see it as bad luck, but I see it as 2012 was just a fairytale story, once in a lifetime.
Penske Racing and Miller Lite agreed upon a contract on Wednesday afternoon, stating that Keselowski will continue to pilot the “Blue Deuce” until 2017. I find this a very premature decision considering Keselowski hasn’t seen victory lane since the Dover fall race of 2012.
I understand that there aren’t any astonishing driver’s on the market at the moment, but I believe 4-years down the road things could be very different. I honestly believe that they shouldn’t of re-signed Keselowski for 4-years, maybe simply just 2-years.
The question through 2013 for Keselowski and Paul Wolfe is “What’s wrong”? I can’t be completely sure on that myself, but I believe it could be the switch to the new Generation Six car. It just hasn’t clicked for Brad Keselowski.
“This puts us in great shape because we’ve got continuity with a sponsor and an elite driver,” team owner Roger Penske told
Elite wasn’t the best word usage by “The Captain” Roger Penske, for his young driver Joey Logano is in the Chase while his “Elite” driver isn’t. Keep in mind also that Logano is in his first year with the Penske organization.
“I feel like together, Roger and I have done some great things. I have a lot of confidence in him, I like the way he treats me and hopefully he would say the same about me,” Keselowski said. “It makes me feel very comfortable to go the extra mile to sign a long-term deal.
Hopefully comfort is what Keselowski needs and he can get back on track for 2014. Keselowski also mentioned “Roger and I have done some great things” and I can agree a NASCAR Sprint Cup title is a great thing, but to become a legend you must consistently year after year prove yourself and Keselowski isn’t off to a great start on proving that.
I can sit here and speculate about this topic all day but in reality Miller Lite has been with Penske Racing since 1981 and long-term relationships like that are hard to break. Like I said earlier and I’ll say it again, in my opinion I think Roger Penske should’ve re-considered how long his sign Keselowski back to that Blue Deuce.
Miller Lite will only sponsor the No. 2 Ford for 24 races instead of the full-schedule. Andy England, chief marketing executive at Miller Lite, said that was at Penske’s request. Penske believes they can find sponsorship for those 12-races not with Miller Lite on the car. Penske is hoping to generate new relationships with other companies. We saw they extend out to Reds Apple Ale this year to and they are a company they are hoping to build that relationship with.
If you’re wondering how Joey Logano looks with his contract as sponsorship is confirmed, well he has 2-years left on his contract with Shell Pennzoil. Penske is also in there first year of five with Ford as a manufacturer.
Austin Dillon looks to continue to gain ground in Kansas
While Sam Hornish Jr. had a poor showing at Dover, Austin Dillon ran strong. That paid off as Dillon was able to gain points and now only sits four points out of the lead.
Heading into the final stretch of races, Dillon will look to continue to close that gap and take the points lead in search of his first points championship. With both drivers having ran strong, Dillon says it won’t take top 10s to win the championship, but solid top five finishes.
“I think it’s going to take top-five finishes, and by top five finishes, I don’t mean you can finish fifth every weekend for the rest of the year and win the championship. I think you need to finish in the top-three consistently.”
In 28 races to date this season, Dillon has finished in the top five in 10 of those. He also has finished inside of the top six in the last three races.
This weekend, though, lies a new challenge as they head to Kansas Speedway. Dillon has one career start at Kansas, finishing second last year. With a pair of intermediate tracks back-to-back – Kansas and then Charlotte – success these next two weeks will be important.
“Sam Hornish, Jr. and I are both really competitive and in order to win the championship, the No. 3 team is going to have to finish ahead of him every weekend,” Dillon stated. “Kansas Speedway is a mile-and-a-half track where we have performed well at in the past. I’m really comfortable there and looking forward to this weekend’s race.”
In the last six intermediate tracks, Dillon has finished inside of the top six at each of them with four top five finishes. On the flip side, Hornish has finished inside the top nine positions in the last six. The last five have seen the driver of the No. 12 Ford Mustang finish inside of the top four. Therefore without a doubt, this will be a close race over the next couple of weeks.
While a championship would showcase the type of success that Dillon has had in his sophomore season, it will also do more for the young driver.
It has already been announced that Dillon will be moving up to the Sprint Cup Series next year. Some say the only reason is simply because he’s Richard Childress’ grandson. However, having a Nationwide Series title on his belt to go with the 2011 Camping World Truck Series crown would help to silence his critics.
Also, with this being his last year in Nationwide, it’s his last chance at winning this division’s title. If he wants to keep the streak going of being champion in each division, he has to keep it going this year.
Dillon has proven that he has matured with each week that has passed, learning what it is like to go all out for wins, while making sure to have those solid points finishes. A championship would just solidify that in the minds of many.
