Keselowski looking to lend hand in No. 22 search

FenderBumper

FenderBumper

The "good old days" ??
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http://www.nascar.com/news/120804/bkeselowski-penske-teammate/index.html

Penske Racing driver wants similar pairing to relationship with Kurt Busch

LONG POND, Pa. -- Brad Keselowski has three Sprint Cup wins for Roger Penske this season.
He also hopes he has his boss's ear when it comes to finding a replacement for recently-dismissed teammate AJ Allmendinger.
"I hope that we can secure a teammate that is an elite talent that I can work with -- and certainly some of that responsibility is mine to communicate," Keselowski said following a disappointing qualifying run that left him 31st for Sunday's Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway. "I think that's something that Mr. Penske takes very seriously."
Keselowski, currently ninth in the point standings, wants to be part of the decision-making process. Last season's pairing with Kurt Busch demonstrated to him how important positive give-and-take with a teammate can be. Both he and Busch qualified for the Chase, finishing fifth and 11th, respectively.
"I told Roger from Day One, when I came to Penske Racing, I didn't want to be just a driver," Keselowski said. "I wanted to be part of a team and part of making Penske Racing as strong as possible. [A replacement for Allmendinger] is something we've discussed. But I can't say that we've come up with an answer."
For now, Sam Hornish Jr. -- doing double duty in the Nationwide race at Iowa and at Pocono this weekend -- is behind the wheel of the No. 22 car. Allmendinger was released by Penske after being suspended by NASCAR on July 7 for failing a random drug test.
Keselowski admits he misses the expertise of having a past series champion as a teammate.
"I think Kurt and I, last year, had a great relationship that showed on-track results," Keselowski said. "There are a lot of times when I look back and think what a good pairing we were together and wish that some things would have worked out a little bit differently. But that is the past and things are where they are.
"Along those lines, that was just starting to develop with AJ. Only time would tell how successful we would have been together but, again, that is a road passed. Now, the key is looking forward to try to find another situation like what we had with Kurt that led to two very successful teams."
 
Just bring back Kurt and be done with it. Poor Roger couldn't handle the "Penske Persona" act having some color to it and over reacted and got rid of him. Roger wouldn't have to admit he was a jacka** because bringing him back would say it for him, Brad would benefit from a great teammate and feedback and us race fans would benefit from seeing Kurt be able to race again. Everybody wins with Kurt :cheers:
 
Thegroundpounder99 said:
Just bring back Kurt and be done with it. Poor Roger couldn't handle the "Penske Persona" act having some color to it and over reacted and got rid of him. Roger wouldn't have to admit he was a jacka** because bringing him back would say it for him, Brad would benefit from a great teammate and feedback and us race fans would benefit from seeing Kurt be able to race again. Everybody wins with Kurt :cheers:
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Penske can name who ever he wants, and Shell will just nod their head and keep that lucrative truck rental and dealership contract in place. Thing is, I don't know if Kurt has changed enough for Roger to offer him the ride. Like I said in the Allmendinger thread, if Brad feels Penske doesn't decide based on how a driver can help the teams, Brad won't sign an extension until he tests the free market in 2014 or 2015.
 
I agree with the Fender as usual.Kurt is at least a year away from being able to return to Penske . Both he and Roger have some growing to do . The relationship with Brad would be different if he were brought back at Brad's request . Just don't see it working .Not sure either if Newman or Truex could interview with Brad for the job. More likely Vickers or Logano would have the least baggage .
 
ted@economy said:
I agree with the Fender as usual.Kurt is at least a year away from being able to return to Penske . Both he and Roger have some growing to do . The relationship with Brad would be different if he were brought back at Brad's request . Just don't see it working .Not sure either if Newman or Truex could interview with Brad for the job. More likely Vickers or Logano would have the least baggage .
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lol As Brad said, he doesn't get to decide. He also said he and Roger had a deal to strive to make Penske better. I don't think Roger believes Sam is the best candidate to win in the 22 and help make Penske racing better, but he feels he owes Sam because he came over from Indy. Who would make Penske better? Could be Newman, Kurt or Logano. An argument could be made for Vickers, but not a real good one.
 
ted@economy said:
If Hornish was the guy ,he would be consistantly leading Nationwide races.
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anyone who has followed Hornish this year would know that he is actually coming on very strong over the last 10 races. Remember he is with a new team this year. Took a while to gel, and now they are and starting to consistently run up front. The three in front of him have been with their teams for a couple years now, and have had prior success with them. Hornish is in building mode. He will have a couple wins by the years end.
 
Jeffrey00 said:
anyone who has followed Hornish this year would know that he is actually coming on very strong over the last 10 races. Remember he is with a new team this year. Took a while to gel, and now they are and starting to consistently run up front. The three in front of him have been with their teams for a couple years now, and have had prior success with them. Hornish is in building mode. He will have a couple wins by the years end.
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I agree Jeffrey . I think that sets him up to be a Nationwide contender next year.
 
Jeffrey00 said:
anyone who has followed Hornish this year would know that he is actually coming on very strong over the last 10 races. Remember he is with a new team this year. Took a while to gel, and now they are and starting to consistently run up front. The three in front of him have been with their teams for a couple years now, and have had prior success with them. Hornish is in building mode. He will have a couple wins by the years end.
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He is finally showing that he can adapt to a new style of driving. Give him until 2014 to win the NW championship. Whenever he does, THEN try and move him up to cup. JMO.
 
I hope that when they make a decision , it's a five year deal and Brad is happy with it .
 
i think brad's ego is even bigger than his driving ability, which is very good. he needs to talk less and stick to driving. roger's been around long enough to decide who he wants to drive for him.
 
SlowNeasy said:
i think brad's ego is even bigger than his driving ability, which is very good. he needs to talk less and stick to driving. roger's been around long enough to decide who he wants to drive for him.
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25 years and no championship. Nuff said.
 
FenderBumper said:
25 years and no championship. Nuff said.
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Pretty much sums it up! Lol. With the talent that they have had over the years it's hard to believe they haven't won a championship. I think they should listen to Brad, he's gonna be the top guy at Penske no matter what free agent they get because I don't see any better avaiable drivers out there.
 
I think it's good that Brad wants to step up and take an active role. Just because Brad likes to (for better or worse) speak his mind to the press and on Twitter doesn't mean that he's anything less than completely professional when it comes to dealing with things that affect his racing and career.

As far as Penske not yet winning a Cup, I think it reflects less on Penske and more on just how tough it is to win them against the likes of Hendrick, Roush and Childress.
 
Doesn't matter who they pick as a team mate.Since they will be using Roush-Yates engines they will be so far down on the list as far as engines go.They won't have the horsepower to win anything.
 
mike honcho said:
Doesn't matter who they pick as a team mate.Since they will be using Roush-Yates engines they will be so far down on the list as far as engines go.They won't have the horsepower to win anything.
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That hasn't been decided yet. I just can't see Penske buying his engines from anyone.
 
FenderBumper said:
That hasn't been decided yet. I just can't see Penske buying his engines from anyone.
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Roush says Penske will use Roush-Yates engines: Jack Roush says Penske has decided to run Roush-Yates Ford engines next season. Penske has said he will not be shutting down the 80-man operation he currently has, but it would seem unlikely that Ford would care for one of its star new players to also continue building Dodge engines on the side. A possible sale of that engine shop to Dodge itself has been speculated as the only logical solution.
Roush: "Roger and I will cooperate on things that are in our common interests, and we will compete on things that reflect our need to be independent and justify our space on the race track. We've done the bulk of the work on the 2013 car; we did invite them to have a look at what we've done in concert with Ford, and made sure we had their blessing, along with the other Ford teams involved. The indication are -- though I don't know if the papers have been signed yet -- that he will use our engines. He does have a few things he does different with his cars and the way the engines are mounted; so we'll respect his experience and his package preference. Whether we wind up with the same package for all Ford cars or not is yet to be determined."
Roush, asked about the possibility of Penske becoming a business partner with Roush and Doug Yates in the engine operations, said "There is no plan on the table for Roger for any ownership in the engine program. But I stop short of saying that would never be a consideration going forward."(MikeMulhern.net)(8-4-2012)
 
That's surprising. Just a couple of days ago, Roger said he wasn't sure yet. I guess he is now. Maybe everything hinged on securing jobs for his engine shop. Word is that Dodge has signed Furniture row, which will go to 2 teams and race Dodges next year. Newman and Busch have been mentioned as potential drivers. Now that is a match made in heaven. :sarcasm:
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Do you need flowcharts? I have a great app for that. ;)
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__________________............................... _________________
| Penske hasn't been able |............................. | Brad should win a |
| to win a championship |>>>>>>>>>>>>> | championship before |
| after 25 years of trying. |...............................| trying to make |
__________________ <<<<<<<<<<<< | Penske better |


Crude, but effecient.
 
FenderBumper said:
__________________............................... _________________
| Penske hasn't been able |............................. | Brad should win a |
| to win a championship |>>>>>>>>>>>>> | championship before |
| after 25 years of trying. |...............................| trying to make |
__________________ <<<<<<<<<<<< | Penske better |


Crude, but effecient.
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That about sums it up.
 
FenderBumper said:
Rusty Wallace and Kurt Busch couldn't get it done with Penske.
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Rusty was old school , back in the day those guys just cared about #1 , teammates were as much competitors as anything else . It wasn't till Hendrick laid down the law that teammates opened the book for each other to see . Kurt and Brad were the first to work together at Penske IMO. In todays Nascar you need to work together to keep up with Hendrick.
 
Smoke14 said:
You mean down the list like Stewart-Haas racing is with Hendrick's?
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That's right on Smoke 14 .Building engines is big business today .No engine builder would ever want to be accused of selling inferior equipment to a buyer . If the engines aren't top notch , they don't get sold.
 
ted@economy said:
Rusty was old school , back in the day those guys just cared about #1 , teammates were as much competitors as anything else . It wasn't till Hendrick laid down the law that teammates opened the book for each other to see . Kurt and Brad were the first to work together at Penske IMO. In todays Nascar you need to work together to keep up with Hendrick.
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I also think with the testing (or lack of) rules put a emphasis on sharing the information you could gather from limited track time.
 
Thegroundpounder99 said:
I also think with the testing (or lack of) rules put a emphasis on sharing the information you could gather from limited track time.
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Yep ,sharing is key today . even to the point of the teammate who qualifies early getting info to the next teammates who go out .
 
FenderBumper said:
At some point you'll need to piece this together on your own.
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sigh I know where I am with this discussion thank you very much. my point is what the hell do Wallace and Busch have to do with Keselowski trying to tell Penske how to run his company? Nothing. The only thing you can compare those two to is the fact that they were more accomplished racers (or more elite) and they didn't try to tell Penske how to run his company. Well maybe Busch did on race day when he'd fire his whole crew. Anyways my point is maybe Keselowski should rack up more "stats" before he thinks he is an elite driver. Sorry, but he isn't yet. He is like a Kahne, Hamlin, Newman, ect...A driver who can win multiple races a year and compete for a championship. Do you see those drivers telling their owners who they should hire? Nope!

Also I think they jury is still out on Keselowski. Remember when he was in the 12 and didn't do ****? Yeah I do. He didn't start doing good until he was in the 2 (flagship car). A car that was helped built by Busch. Lets see after next year when they have truely moved away from Busch and are all in with Keselowski.
 
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