NASCAR Weekly: Is Brad Keselowski moving to Roush-Fenway Racing?
Roush-Fenway Racing is said to have made Brad Keselowski a lucrative offer – The 37-year-old has been offered not only a driver’s seat, but a partnership as well
NASCAR Cup Series (by: André Wiegold)
After Denny Hamlin with 23XI Racing, another active driver could get a partial role as a team co-owner: Brad Keselowski! But to do so, he would first have to sign the contract that the 37-year-old has been offered by Roush-Fenway Racing, according to media reports. The team is said to have offered the current Penske driver not only a cockpit, but also a partnership.
There is also good news from the US state of North Carolina. There, the government plans to spend 30 million U.S. dollars (about 25 million euros) to work on the Charlotte Speedway, the legendary North Wilkesboro Speedway and Rockingham Speedway. The reconstruction of the North Wilkesboro Speedway in particular would please many NASCAR fans.
It’s worth looking back at the 2020 Bristol All-Star race, a non-championship race that is often used to test new features. Last year, the staring numbers were moved from the door closer to the rear wheel to create more space for sponsors. It is possible that this solution will be used in the next-gen era, as teams have been informed that this design creates more value for sponsors.
There were also two races on the schedule recently: At Darlington two weeks ago, Martin Truex Jr. prevailed after a very dominant performance. A week later it was off to Dover International Speedway. Alex Bowman secured his second win of the season and made history together with Hendrick Motorsports: For the first time ever, the organization celebrated a quadruple victory: Bowman finished ahead of his teammates Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and William Byron.
The next race will take place next Sunday at 8:00 p.m. at Circuit of The Americas (COTA). It will be NASCAR’s debut on the circuit, which also appears on the Formula 1 calendar. Ty Dillon has found a Cup cockpit for the run: He will start for Gaunt Brothers. Kyle Tilley will compete in COTA for Live Fast Motorsports.
NASCAR Xfinity Series (by: André Wiegold)
The NASCAR Xfinity Series most recently featured races at both Darlington Raceway and Dover International Speedway. On the “track too tough to tame” Justin Allgaier won, while at Dover the current Xfinity champion Austin Cindric was allowed to turn into Victory Lane.
Like the Cup Series, the second NASCAR division will be racing at COTA for the first time. Many prominent drivers have secured cockpits for this special race: Cole Custer will compete for Rick Ware Racing, while JJ Yeley will drive for Our Motorsports. Tyler Reddick will join Jordan Anderson Racing for the road course race.
DGM Racing has secured the services of Preston Pardus, Boris Said will make his Xfinity comeback with MBM Motorsports.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (by: Simon Mones)
While Cup and Xfinity Series drivers were battling for valuable championship points at Dover, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series had a weekend off. In the final round at Darlington, Sheldon Creed (GMS Racing) prevailed, ending Kyle Busch Motorsports’ winning streak.
The 23-year-old also secured the 50,000 US dollar bonus (around 41,000 euros) of the Triple Truck Challenge. If he also wins the two races at the Circuit of the Americas and in Charlotte, a further 500,000 U.S. dollars (around 410,000 euros) will be up for grabs.
The NASCAR debut on the circuit in Austin will see the return of a familiar face to NASCAR in the form of Paul Menard. The 40-year-old retired from full-time motorsports two years ago and is competing for ThorSport Racing in Texas.
“COTA is a new track for the series and one that I have never been to before, so we’ll all be on relatively equal footing”, said Menard. “I’ll have 50 minutes to learn the track and knock the rust off and am certainly looking forward to the challenge of trying to add my name to the list of winners in all three national series.”
Unlike in Cup (one win) and the Xifinity Series (three wins), the 40-year-old has yet to make it to Victory Lane in the lowest national division. However, Menard has only made six starts.
