"HE BASICALLY SAID 'GET OUT OF HERE'": BRAD KESELOWSKI OPENS UP ABOUT INTENSE CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS WITH TEAM PENSKE OWNER

NASCAR veteran Brad Keselowski recently shed light on his big move to Team Penske back in 2010. His move involved an intense contract negotiation with Team Penske owner, Roger Penske.

While he made his NASCAR Cup debut with Hendrick Motorsports, it was Team Penske with whom Brad Keselowski found his stride. The Michigan native won the Xfinity Series Championship in his first season with Penske Racing in 2010 and went on to clinch his first and only Cup title with Roger Penske's team in 2012.

Recently, Keselowski sat down with retired driver Kevin Harvick in the latter's podcast, "Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour". The veteran duo exchanged tales of their racing careers, and Keselowski recounted the story of his initial meeting with Roger Penske in the summer of 2009.

Keselowski recalled meeting with Penske after parting ways with Rick Hendrick. Penske offered him a two-year contract to drive the 12 Cup car, but Keselowski turned it down. At that time, the 12 car was not performing well, and Keselowski felt the team unfairly blamed its driver, David Stremme.

"I didn't think the cars were very fast, and I thought that was really hard for him (Stremme) to manage," Keselowski said [at 35:53].

Keselowski told Penske he would only join if he could have control over key aspects like the crew chief and the establishment of a full-time Xfinity team to develop talent. He said:

"Honestly, this isn't a great opportunity, Mr. Penske. The only way I'll do it is if I can do it my way."

Penske, taken aback by the bold demands from the young driver, essentially told him to leave. Keselowski recalled:

"Mr. Penske looked at me like, 'You're not going to tell me what to do.' He basically just said, 'Get out of here.' I replied, 'Alright, well, I'm not going to do it if it's not the right deal, and this is what it's going to take to be the right deal.' [at 36:40]

Roger Penske agreed to an "entire list" of demands from Brad Keselowski

Unexpectedly, two months later, Keselowski's agent informed him that Penske had agreed to all his demands. This led to the creation of the 22 Xfinity team, significant changes within the team, and even a new paint scheme for the car. Brad Keselowski revealed:

"About two months later, I got a call from my agent. He said, 'Hey, Brad. I just talked to Roger Penske. He agreed to everything you asked for." [37:25]

"The entire list was agreed to, and that deal came together. I was like, 'Wow, this is great.' It took some time to turn that team around, but it ended up getting it to something great."

The collaboration of Brad Keselowski and Team Penske resulted in multiple silverware for both parties. However, by the time 2022 rolled around, Brad Keselowski and Team Penske had decided to move on to their separate ways.

While Xfinity prospect Austin Cindric secured his promotion to NASCAR's premier division, Keselowski entered a driver/co-owner contract with RFK Racing. He currently pilots the No. 6 Ford for the same team.

2024-06-22T13:34:13Z dg43tfdfdgfd