Just like in the NFL and the NBA, NASCAR prizes potential over performance, and no impending free agent is inspiring as much frothing as rookie Brad Keselowski. A driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports in the Nationwide Series and connected with Hendrick Motorsports for Sprint Cup, Keselowski is the pretty girl at the dance right now, with everybody vying for his attention.
Rumors first surfaced at Bristol that he was headed to Penske to take over the No. 12 currently held by David Stremme, rumors which must have delighted Stremme to no end. While many outlets are reporting that as fact, and indeed it makes a whole lot of sense, we'll hold off on saying that's a definitive.
Even so, the picture just got a whole lot clearer, as Keselowski announced that he's bouncing from JR Motorsports in 2010. Junior has said that if Keselowski doesn't drive a Chevy in the Cup Series, he won't be driving a Chevy in Nationwide either. Penske is, of course, a Dodge house. Keselowski is walking away (at the end of the season, of course) from a team that's currently in third place in the Nationwide standings, behind Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards.
Asked directly about his prospects for jumping straight into Sprint, Keselowski offered this beauty: "Man, that's hard to say at this time. I really don't have an answer for that. I wouldn't say yes or no. I would say that time will tell." Wow! The four-cliché quad! Boy's only 25 but he's already a master of the non-answer answer.
My take: in absolute terms, I think Keselowski's making a mistake walking away from Hendrick Motorsports. After one more year with Mark Martin, Keselowski could slide right into the No. 5 and take over the most prized seat in motorsports. On the other hand, he's clearly ready to run right now, and who am I to tell a guy to put his dream on ice for another entire year? Plus, it's not like Penske is necessarily a lifetime commitment.
Whichever way he goes, though, it's clear: rookie time is over. He's going to be expected to produce, big, from the very first "start your engines."
Keselowski says he won't return to JR Motorsports [NASCAR.com]
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