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Sprint Cup
CUP: Keselowski Hunts Title For Penske
Brad Keselowski might deliver Roger Penske his first NASCAR Sprint Cup championship this year…
Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge is two points behind Jimmie Johnson for the lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. (Photo: Getty Images)
If you want to know how long car owner Roger Penske has waited to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, you need to go all the way back to Jan. 23, 1972.
On that date, Penske Racing competed in its first event in what is now known as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The race was the Winston Western 500, run on the old road course at Riverside International Raceway in Southern California’s Inland Empire.
Driving an American Motors Matador, of all things, Mark Donohue finished 39th in a 40-car field, retiring after 13 laps due to “shocks.” For his efforts, Donohue won $1,265.
Finishing 34th was Michigan driver Ron Keselowski, who won $1,015 driving for Lubinski Racing.
If the name sounds familiar, it should. Ron Keselowski is the uncle of current NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Brad Keselowski.
That race at Riverside, the first NASCAR entry for Penske Racing?
It happened 12 years before Brad Keselowski was even born.
That’s how long Penske’s been in NASCAR.
And he’s still hunting his first Sprint Cup championship. Penske’s come close before — Rusty Wallace was runner-up in 1993, and the team’s lineup has included stars like Booby Allison, Wallace, Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch, among others. But to date, the team’s sole NASCAR title came in 2010, when Keselowski won the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship.
This year, the prize and the pressure are much bigger.
With six of 10 races in the books for this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, Keselowski leads Jimmie Johnson by 7 points and Denny Hamlin by 20 headed to Martinsville Speedway, site of Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500.
The tiny 0.526-mile Martinsville short track is a place where Keselowski’s rivals have enjoyed a tremendous amount of success, with Johnson winning six times here and Hamlin four. Keselowski has a best finish of ninth here in five Cup starts.
Between them, Johnson and Hamlin have led 2,915 laps at Martinsville. Keselowski has led 2 laps.
Then again, Keselowski wasn’t supposed to be very good at Dover International Speedway and he won the third Chase race of the year there. Who’s to say he can’t have another big weekend at Martinsville?
Certainly, the driver doesn’t lack for confidence.
“Martinsville is a place that I’ve learned to enjoy,” said Keselowski. “Bristol is a place that I took to immediately, but Martinsville requires finesse that can only be learned with track time.”
Keselowski said his background has helped him learn to adapt to Bristol.
“I never considered myself a great short-track driver, but one thing that helped me when I got to this level was that my dad made me travel around to different tracks when I was growing up,” he said. “I raced a lot of different short tracks in the Midwest and that made me more comfortable when I got into the upper levels of NASCAR. Those lessons will come in handy this weekend.”
As for the competition, Keselowski professed not to be concerned.
“Both the 48 car (Johnson) and the 11 car (Hamlin) will be fast, but I expect us to be as well,” he said. “Our team has made great strides at Martinsville over the years. We qualified well (seventh) and had a great race there in the spring (a track-best finish of ninth). We probably deserved a top-five finish on that day. If we can have the same kind of run on Sunday, I’m confident we can keep our spot at the top of the standings.”
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.
On that date, Penske Racing competed in its first event in what is now known as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The race was the Winston Western 500, run on the old road course at Riverside International Raceway in Southern California’s Inland Empire.
Driving an American Motors Matador, of all things, Mark Donohue finished 39th in a 40-car field, retiring after 13 laps due to “shocks.” For his efforts, Donohue won $1,265.
Finishing 34th was Michigan driver Ron Keselowski, who won $1,015 driving for Lubinski Racing.
If the name sounds familiar, it should. Ron Keselowski is the uncle of current NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Brad Keselowski.
That race at Riverside, the first NASCAR entry for Penske Racing?
It happened 12 years before Brad Keselowski was even born.
That’s how long Penske’s been in NASCAR.
And he’s still hunting his first Sprint Cup championship. Penske’s come close before — Rusty Wallace was runner-up in 1993, and the team’s lineup has included stars like Booby Allison, Wallace, Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch, among others. But to date, the team’s sole NASCAR title came in 2010, when Keselowski won the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship.
This year, the prize and the pressure are much bigger.
With six of 10 races in the books for this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, Keselowski leads Jimmie Johnson by 7 points and Denny Hamlin by 20 headed to Martinsville Speedway, site of Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500.
The tiny 0.526-mile Martinsville short track is a place where Keselowski’s rivals have enjoyed a tremendous amount of success, with Johnson winning six times here and Hamlin four. Keselowski has a best finish of ninth here in five Cup starts.
Between them, Johnson and Hamlin have led 2,915 laps at Martinsville. Keselowski has led 2 laps.
Then again, Keselowski wasn’t supposed to be very good at Dover International Speedway and he won the third Chase race of the year there. Who’s to say he can’t have another big weekend at Martinsville?
Certainly, the driver doesn’t lack for confidence.
“Martinsville is a place that I’ve learned to enjoy,” said Keselowski. “Bristol is a place that I took to immediately, but Martinsville requires finesse that can only be learned with track time.”
Keselowski said his background has helped him learn to adapt to Bristol.
“I never considered myself a great short-track driver, but one thing that helped me when I got to this level was that my dad made me travel around to different tracks when I was growing up,” he said. “I raced a lot of different short tracks in the Midwest and that made me more comfortable when I got into the upper levels of NASCAR. Those lessons will come in handy this weekend.”
As for the competition, Keselowski professed not to be concerned.
“Both the 48 car (Johnson) and the 11 car (Hamlin) will be fast, but I expect us to be as well,” he said. “Our team has made great strides at Martinsville over the years. We qualified well (seventh) and had a great race there in the spring (a track-best finish of ninth). We probably deserved a top-five finish on that day. If we can have the same kind of run on Sunday, I’m confident we can keep our spot at the top of the standings.”
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.
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