Roger Penske Pulls a Surprise After Re-signing Brad Keselowski’s Former Driver Despite an Unimpressive Season

In a sport dictated by consistent Chevrolets and fast Toyotas, this year has witnessed the strong resurgence of the Ford teams in NASCAR, some more than others. However, while RFK Racing has been the pinnacle of Ford’s performance in 2024, a more advanced team, Stewart-Haas Racing, has not measured up to its potential. However, there’s one more Ford team that has corkscrewed into the round of 8 by virtue of a brilliant last-minute sprint by their star driver last week at the Talladega Superspeedway.

Fans have perhaps guessed it right; it’s Ryan Blaney and Roger Penske’s Cup Series team. However, after a glorious week, the 86-year-old billionaire has re-signed one of Brad Keselowski’s former drivers to drive the #2 Ford Mustang in the upcoming season.

Roger Penske reasserts his faith in driver despite a sorry season

Back in 2017, Austin Cindric had a successful stint with Brad Keselowski Racing, with whom he came in 3rd in the Truck Series. Later, he replaced Brad Keselowski in Team Penske‘s #2 Mustang in 2022, when Brad went over to Jack Roush’s team and claimed a part-ownership in the organization.

However, Cindric has not been able to bring out his A-game lately. In his second full-time Cup season with Roger Penske‘s organization, the 25-year-old Ohio native merely has three top-10 and one top-5 finishes to his name, with the latter coming in Talladega last week. Currently sitting 23rd in the drivers’ standings, he has not measured up to his teammates, Ryan Blaney and defending champion Joey Logano. Compare it with last year, when he led the points table for two consecutive weeks, becoming only the second rookie after the legendary Jimmie Johnson to do so in the Cup Series.

Despite his string of sub par performances, Mr Penske must surely have faith in Cindric’s talent as he has signed him for a third season with his team. As reported by NASCAR, Cindric told the reporters, “I?m focused on next year big time. With the changes that we made after the regular season and all that, yeah, pretty focused on hitting the ground running, using these next couple of weeks to really take advantage of that opportunity.”

“Driving for Roger, driving the 2 car, that?s a big deal. That?s a big opportunity. I don?t see myself getting too many other opportunities like that in my racing career,” he added.

Now that his third season with Team Penske is confirmed, it is worth noting that it was due to Brad Keselowski’s ambition that Cindric found his way into Team Penske.

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Let’s wind the clock back to 2020. Roger Penske had agreed to prolong his contract with Brad Keselowski by just one year, besides a salary cut. The bottom line? Austin Cindric would replace Brad Keselowski behind the wheel of the #2 Mustang. But why did Brad Keselowski leave Roger Penske’s team?

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The RFK Racing owner was looking for an ownership stake in a Cup team. However, that was impossible to accept for Roger Penske. Penske had clarified, “The way we?re structured, that just wasn?t available. We?re sorry to see him go. This was not a disagreement or anything else. This was a business decision that was made on both sides fairly and squarely.”

Penske had admitted that he would have extended Keselowski’s contract for a few more years had the latter not demanded an ownership stake. As a result, both parties settled on a contract that would last throughout 2021, before he would leave as 2022 began. However, Roger Penske had hopes for his newest recruit.

According to AP News, Penske had said, “You come in as the son of the guy who is president of Team Penske, you probably come in with a little weight on your shoulders. But he?s proven to be the driver he is, the individual he is and this is a big step for him.”

With all the faith entrusted to him, let’s just hope Austin Cindric lives up to the expectations of his boss in 2024.

Read more: Roger Penske?s Team Redefine Themselves After Opportunistic Tendencies Pull Them Through