Category: Motorsports
Posted by Doug Guthrie (The Detroit News) on Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 10:17 AMKeselowski will drive Penske's Dodge and Jr's Chevy too
Taking a seat in a Dodge in NASCAR's Cup series used to mean you won't be driving that Chevy in the Nationwide series any more.
But not in Brad Keselowski's case.
Keselowski this weekend takes over Roger Penske's No. 12 Dodge in the Sprint Cup series for the final three races of the season. And he won't step out of Dale Earnhardt Jr's No. 88 Nationwide series Chevrolet, according to JR Motorsports.
Keselowski, who is third in Nationwide series points, will finish the season with the rare opportunity of driving Roger Penske Dodges and Rick Hendrick Chevrolets on the same tracks on the same weekends.
A spokeswoman for Earnhardt's race shop confirmed Monday that Keselowski will continue to drive the No. 88 for the rest of the Nationwide season.
Drivers doing costume changes between Cup and Nationwide sessions at Texas, Phoenix and Homestead isn't unusual. But doing it with uniforms that say Dodge and Chevrolet used to be taboo.
The announcement was made by Penske Racing Monday that Keselowski will replace David Stremme before the season ends to allow the Rochester Hills native time to build relationships and communication with the team in preparation for a full season of Cup series competition in 2010.
"These three races will provide a good base for both Brad and the team as we head into next year," Roger Penske said in a statement released by his team.
Maybe this highlights friendly cooperation between two respected team owners who competed over the rising star from Rochester Hills. Hendrick wanted to keep Keselowski. And when Kez signed in September, he credited Dale Earnhardt Jr. with convincing him that Penske was one of the few who could compete on the track with the Hendrick empire.
Keselowski has four Nationwide series wins, two poles and 20 top-five finishes this season driving for Earnhardt. He trails only Cup series stars Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards.
In 12 races driving for two different teams in the Cup series, Keselowski has four top tens including a win earlier this season at Talladega. Mostly, he's driven Hendrick's No. 25 Chevrolet. He finished sixth in his return to Alabama last weekend in James Finch's No. 09 Chevy.
This accommodation also is a reflection of the dwindling influence of the manufacturers in NASCAR and the sanctioning body's deliberate move away from the manufacturers with an increasingly homogenous spec car.
Brand loyalty is fading into NASCAR's past as fans realize the only difference is the engine block and the stickers on the nose and tail.
It seemed romantically fitting that Keselowski would join the Michigan-based Penske in Dodges next season. His father Bob Keselowski drove Dodges in the truck series. Brother Brian drives Dodges in Nationwide.
Next season, Kelly Bires will step out of a Toyota and into Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevrolets in the Nationwide series. Keselowski will compete in the nationwide series again next year, but in Penske's No. 22 Dodge sponsored by Michigan-based Discount Tire.
But NASCAR's head man, Brian France has explained it himself, saying NASCAR is well positioned by the Car of Tomorrow to weather the storms in Detroit and survive if the manufacturers fail. He has explained that the identities of the race cars with identical fenders and rooflines can be easily swapped. Just ask Robby Gordon.
So these loyalties NASCAR helped to forge in its fans in days gone by are more than blurred. It's no longer safe business for NASCAR to hold on to this element of the marketing package.
Kasey Kahne drove Toyotas in a few Nationwide races this season fueling speculation that Richard Petty Racing would switch from Dodge to the Japanese manufacturer before stunning everyone with a switch to Ford.
Do you remember that Kahne started in Fords and their parting included an ugly lawsuit? Well, everything's fine now because the sagging influence of the manufacturers in NASCAR means they're really just race cars.
And that's a good reason all NASCAR fans to root for full recovery in Detroit. Unless you like the way every car is exactly the same in the IndyCar series.
