Has Roush Fenway Racing offered Brad Keselowski an ownership stake?
Could Brad Keselowski be switching teams ahead of the 2022 season? And become a team owner?
According to a report by Motorsport, Keselowski has been offered a contract to drive the No. 6 car for Roush Fenway Racing in 2022 and beyond. That offer also reportedly includes an ownership stake in the team.
Keselowski, 37, has been offered a fulltime Cup series ride with Roush Fenway Racing beginning next season in a deal that would also include part ownership in a renamed team called RFK (Roush-Fenway-Keselowski) Racing, multiple sources with knowledge of the deal have confirmed.
Keselowski would become the driver of the No. 6 Ford, but it remains unclear how much of an ownership percentage he would have in the renamed team. However, Keselowski would be expected to play a large role on the competition side of the organization, sources said.
Keselowski's current deal with Team Penske expires at the end of the season. He was set to be a free agent at the end of the 2020 season and signed a one-year extension with the team during the pandemic-impacted 2020 campaign.
Keselowski has 35 career wins
Keselowski has driven for Team Penske for the entirety of his full-time Cup Series career. The team signed him at the end of the 2009 season after Keselowski drove part-time in the Cup Series that season for Phoenix Racing and Hendrick Motorsports.
All but one of Keselowski's 35 career Cup Series wins have come at Penske and he won the 2012 championship with the team. That title was the first Cup Series championship for Roger Penske.
Keselowski has significant NASCAR ownership experience. He owned and operated Brad Keselowski Racing in the Truck Series and his team employed drivers like Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric. Keselowski shut the team down to start his Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing in 2018.
If the offer becomes reality, Keselowski would join Denny Hamlin as an active owner-driver in the Cup Series. Hamlin co-owns 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan. Hamlin became the first prominent owner-driver in the Cup Series in 2021 since Tony Stewart retired from the Cup Series after the 2016 season.
A boost for Roush?
A move to add Keselowski to the team could be a boost for Roush similar to the boost that Haas CNC Racing got when it made Stewart a co-owner ahead of the 2009 season. Haas was a Cup Series backmarker until Stewart came along and then became one of the best teams in NASCAR thanks to an increased technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports. Stewart won the 2011 Cup Series title and then Kevin Harvick got his first title in 2014.
Roush is no backmarker Cup Series team but its performance is also nothing like it used to be. Roush was one of the biggest and best teams in the 2000s and even had five cars in the 10-car playoff field in 2005. Now it's a two-car team that has just two wins since Carl Edwards left the team after the 2014 season. The addition of Keselowski — if it comes to fruition — and the addition of the new Cup Series car in 2022 could be a jolt for the team.
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