Brad Keselowski to Roush-Fenway in 2022, Why it’s a Great Move for Brad

Another Silly Season domino has dropped for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Season and this time it involves the 2012 NASCAR Cup Champion Brad Keselowski. However, many could say that it was the “worst kept secret in NASCAR” in terms of what the deal is. Keselowski will be heading to Roush-Fenway Racing next season to replace Ryan Newman in the #6 Ford and will be assuming a minority ownership role in the team. He will also be serving as the head of the team’s competition committee and his ownership role will expand once his driving career is over. This comes at a time where NASCAR is seeing many changes in team ownership and we are now realizing the next generation of team owners in NASCAR such as Kaulig, Marks, Hamlin, McLeod, and even Jeff Gordon.

Why is Keselowski moving from Team Penske, one of the most dominant teams in the sport, to Roush-Fenway Racing which has struggled in recent years? The reason for this is that he will have the ability to have a long-term driver contract, as previously mentioned the leadership role in a competition committee, ownership position, and the growth it represents, as well as having a role in the sport when he is done driving. The press conference took place at 11 am EST today in the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina as Keselowski now looks ahead to the next chapter of his career. He also notes that he is currently the same age as Tony Stewart when he joined Gene Haas to form Stewart-Haas Racing back in 2009, saying that it ‘shows you can be successful with this type of arrangement.’ Stewart would go on to score his team’s first championship in 2011, just in the team’s third season, then again in 2014 with Kevin Harvick. Keselowski also pointed out that he’s taking over a car that was in a similar position in points that the Penske team he joined was and they won a championship in three years. Keselowski joined Team Penske in 2010 driving the #12 car, then switching to their flagship #2 in 2011 and winning the championship in 2012. He sees the NextGen car and its ‘technology reset’ as the perfect opportunity to make it happen. Brad will go into the Hall of Fame for his racing achievements in the future but now could have the chance to be in the Hall of Fame for potentially turning around what was once one of the most dominant teams in NASCAR. The team also will have Chris Buescher in the #17 Ford again next season.

From the perspective of 79-year-old Jack Roush, he said this is his retirement plan. He described it as ‘taking one hand off the baton.’ Which this will solidify the team’s future for many years to come.

“I am passing my baton to him – I am but I still have one hand on the thing. I’m not going to give it up completely for a while. Over a period of time, Brad will earn his independence and gain a significant position of ownership in the team.” Roush said in the press conference, “I hope we can take lots of checkered flags on the way.”

Keselowski also thought about changing the number to #29, a personal number of his as well as from his old truck team that shut down after 2017, but remained with the #6, and is all in for Roush’s legacy. He said as well that he has about five to ten years left of racing in him, 15 if he lifts weights like Mark Martin. As for Ryan Newman, Roush-Fenway president, Steve Newmark, stated that they explored the possibility of a third team, chartered or not, for Newman to run part-time. He said that Ryan is still exploring his options for his continued racing career.

This is a very smart move on Keselowski’s part, as right now, there is a lot of interest from prospective team owners to run in the Cup Series. We have seen Kaulig race buy a couple of charters from Spire Motorsports, Trackhouse Racing buying out Chip Ganassi Racing’s Cup team, 23XI Racing looking to expand, Jeff Gordon leave the FOX Sports booth to take a larger role at Hendrick Motorsports, and GMS Racing announce their plans to go Cup Racing as well. We also may see Jr Motorsports make the jump to the Cup Series as well. With all of these moves being made, 2022 is going to look as different as it ever has. With Keselowski, this sets himself up for the future, possibly up to the next 40 years in the sport. He will also have a team to already work with instead of starting from scratch. He will have a base to build around with him and Chris Buescher, who looked strong in the first half of the 2021 season. Brad wanted to be able to have a leadership role on the competition side while racing because he felt like he had a lot more to offer than being a driver. It has always interested him and when contending for championships, “you want to make sure you have the maximum impact possible.” Brad also has an interest in bringing back Roush’s Xfinity/Truck teams for driver development, but no timetable has been set.

There is a lot of possibilities that this team could be another Stewart-Haas-like team and having a championship-caliber driver like Brad Keselowski could take the team up a notch in the future. Could Keselowski get his second championship by 2024? Or maybe even Buescher getting a championship by then? Only time will tell, but this is part of the Next Generation of NASCAR and Brad has goals and a vision. With him having control of the competition committee, this will be very beneficial to Roush-Fenway Racing. A rebranded name has yet to be revealed, perhaps the team will be known as Roush-Fenway-Keselowski Racing, or RFK Racing maybe? Time will tell to see how Keselowski will do with his new team, it’s a reset and I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.

2022 is going to look a lot different in NASCAR. This could be one of the most important seasons in NASCAR history.