(Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. came out yesterday and said he'd like to have Brad Keselowski drive for him next year...he'd LIKE too. After doing some digging, I found out that Keselowski doesn't have a deal for next season.
Keselowski is currently a developmental driver for Rick Hendrick, and is probably in line to take over the No. 5 Kellogg's Chevy when Mark Martin decides to call it quits.
Mark is supposed to go to a part-time schedule next year and more than likely drive the No. 5 when Martin is in his lounge chair on a Sunday afternoon...
"I don't know where I'm at to be honest -- I know I don't have anything locked in, that's really all I can say -- I don't have a ride secured for next year," Keselowski said after the race.
"Everything to this point has been wait and see. I know [winning] certainly can't hurt. To be honest, I've put it off myself, personally, because I don't even know what I want to do. I feel like I'm ready to run at this level full time, and hopefully there are some that agree with that after [Sunday]. It's a matter of getting on the right teams, the right sponsorship and all of the stars aligning, and that's not something you can rush. As far as contracts and all that go, I don't know. I don't understand them. I know I don't have a ride for next year."
"I was not surprised at all," Earnhardt said.
"That car was at one time a backup to the [Hendrick Motorsports] No. 5 car, so it was a Hendrick chassis, Hendrick powerplant under the hood that James Finch had rented for the race. So I mean, you got a real good crew chief, he's got a lot of decent mechanics, worker bees on his team -- Marc Reno, he's got tons of experience as a crew chief."
"So I'm not surprised at all because I know how good Brad is and I know how hungry he is. You have to imagine how amazingly driven he was, to be sitting there in that position at the end of that race. If you know Brad at all personally, you know that's all he does is think about racing 24/7 -- what he can do. So he's almost over-analyzing himself at times. I have to kind of tell him to stop thinking so much about it."
But because of that, Earnhardt would like to continue both Keselowski's development and that of his race team, in-house.
"I'd like Brad to drive my Nationwide car again if he wants to," Earnhardt said.
"But as far as what he does in his Cup stuff, that's with Rick [Hendrick]. It's my understanding that that's particularly not any of my business up until they're ready to share that information."
"Whatever Rick wants to do with Brad, it's up to him on the Cup side. I'm in the business of trying to help guys win races in the Nationwide Series and trying to help them become better race car drivers."
"I feel like we've really achieved that goal with Brad, and he's sort of done what we set out to do with our program. You know, it's really up to him if he wants to keep driving the car. We'll work that out. We're not really in no big hurry."
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