Is Brad Keselowski on Tap to Replace Mark Martin in 2011?

Hendrick Motorsports announced recently that Brad Keselowski will drive seven Cup races in 2009.

Keselowski is on tap to attempt the races in the No. 25 GoDaddy.com-sponsored Chevrolet.

This past season was a successful one for the 24-year-old driver in his first full season driving under the JR Motorsports banner in the Nationwide Series.

Keselowski finished the season third in points (behind Cup stars Clint Bowyer and Carl Edwards) with two wins, 20 top-10 finishes and 11 top-fives.

During 2008, Keselowski attempted three races, with rain canceling his first attempt Oct. 11 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

The team returned for the final two races, qualifying 37th and 31st, respectively, at Texas and Homestead.

Keselowski fared well in both races, finishing 19th at Texas and 23rd in the season finale.

Keselowski's No. 25 will be piloted by veteran crew chief Lance McGrew. The specific dates Keselowski will attempt are expected to be released later.

This brings the question of whether Hendrick Motorsports is prepping Keselowski to take over the partial schedule of the No. 5 in the 2010 season.

Veteran Mark Martin has been brought on board for a two-seasons deal as he takes one last shot at winning a Cup championship, something he has yet to do.

Martin will run the entire 2009 schedule, but is expected to run a partial (26 races) schedule in 2010.

Putting Keselowski in seven races this year could be preparing him for the 10 races Martin will take off the year after.

Even more so, it could be an audition for a spot in the car full-time in 2011, when Martin (supposedly) retires from competition.

Keselowski would be a great addition to the Hendrick stable. He brings a relationship with Dale Earnhardt Jr. already, and is young enough to be around the sport for years.

He also is the younger-type driver sponsors are looking for these days and may be able to bring GoDaddy.com along for an entire season.

It should be interesting to see how this plays out for Keselowski, who could get his first Cup job in NASCAR's most dominant team.

Hendrick, of course, has won the past three championships with driver Jimmie Johnson, and has four other titles with teammate Jeff Gordon.

Having that kind of support staff, along with NASCAR's most popular driver in Earnhardt, would be an amazing tool for Keselowski to take advantage of.

It could also be a bad thing, as he could become Hendrick's "other driver."

Just ask Casey Mears how it feels to be the "other driver" among three of the sports biggest stars.

He wasted no time bolting from Hendrick (OK, so it wasn't entirely his decision, I'm sure) to drive for Richard Childress Racing.

B-Blog