October 27, 2009
By Allen Madding
Last week, the grandstands at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina were half-empty for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Banking 500. Even the grandstands at Martinsville this week were not full for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series TUMS 500.
Much has been said and much has been written about the cause of the significant drop in attendance and the drop in the television viewer count. Many have drawn the conclusion that the notable drop in interest in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has been boring racing on cookie-cutter racetracks and the repetition of race winners and Championship Title winners.
While the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series may have had its dull moments this season, things over in the NASCAR Nationwide Series have been heating up. Saturday, the Nationwide teams competed in the Kroger 250 at Memphis Motorsports Park -- and the sparks were flying all afternoon.
Keselowski had his share of the action on the track. He was involved in an altercation with pole sitter, Justin Allgaier. Then with 15 laps to go, Keselowski got into the back bumper of Carl Edwards and sent him spinning as Edwards was attempting to dive under another car. Many drivers aired opinions about Keselowski being a bit over-aggressive.
In the closing laps, Kyle Busch mounted a charge and knocked Keselowski sideways coming out of turn four coming back to the checkered flag. Keselowski held onto the car, righted it, and held off Busch in the drag race to the checkered flag to capture the win.
While many may not agree with his aggressive driving, Keselowski may be just what the Sprint Cup Series needs to put fans back in the grandstands seats and back in front of the television broadcast.
Keselowski has made 11 starts in the Sprint Cup Series during the 2009 season and scored the win in the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega in April. Keselowski has been selected to replace David Stremme in the Penske Racing No. 12 Dodge for the 2010 Sprint Cup season.
Many observers rank Penske chassis' as second only to a Hendrick Motorsports chassis. With the level of talent in Penske’s chassis building department, coupled with being the only team backed by Dodge in 2010, should make for some highly competitive cars coming from the Penske stables.
The fire and determination that Keselowski has shown this year in the Nationwide Series and the fact that he has already scored a Sprint Cup Series win -- coupled with the quality of the Penske cars and team could add up to the Sprint Cup Series having someone that can go toe-to-toe with Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch for the 2010 season.
Only time will tell if Keselowski’s intensity will improve the competition in the Cup Series for 2010. But, it certainly has to help. Drama will certainly have to be back in the sport as Keselowski has had his fair share of run-ins with Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. One can bet that will carry forward into the 2010 season. And drama should bring the fans back.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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