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Labonte and Keselowski: The Expected and the Unexpected

An Opinion



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September 5, 2009

By Brenda Benedict

Brenda Benedict



The NASCAR news this week contained the expected and the unexpected. Both stories have strong implications for the drivers involved and are going to mix things up for next year.

At first the unexpected news was the replacement of Bobby Labonte. Labonte, the 2000 Winston Cup Champion, will be replaced by Roush Fenway Nationwide Series driver Erik Darnell in seven of this year’s final 12 races.

The timing of this move is confusing because Labonte has a history at Atlanta, the site of this week’s race, and Atlanta seems to be best track for him.

My colleague at Insider Racing News, Doug Demmons, wrote about the implications of this move in Atlanta Ace Labonte will have streak broken and he said,

Demmons stated, “When this news story first broke on Monday, I thought the move was another example of an old guy being pushed out so a “young gun” could get a crack at Cup. That is not exactly the case here, but rather one of an established championship-winning veteran and fan favorite being ousted in favor of a younger, less experienced driver who has a sponsor in tow. It's a move that closely resembles what happened to Johnny Benson, Jr. in the Truck Series earlier this season; a move to this day I do not condone, support, or pretend to even understand.”

I’m with you there Doug. Johnny Benson’s loss of his ride has never made sense to me. Michigan native Benson was a fan favorite but I’ve heard it boils down to sponsorship. Doesn’t it always? I wish that sponsorship didn’t control racing like it does but that’s the reality of the business.

But the latest unexpected news is that Bobby Labonte is going to be driving the number 71 for TGR Motorsports replacing David Gilliland at Atlanta this weekend. This will allow Labonte to keep his current streak of 568 consecutive starts in Cup events which is 8th in Cup history and just behind Jeff Gordon’s 569. The only curve in this story is that Labonte will have to qualify on speed because even though he is a past champion which would allow him an automatic spot, he is a late entry. So this unexpected story may have one more unexpected turn before it is over.

Another story involving Michiganders had been hanging in the air for the past several weeks. Penske Championship Racing announced that Brad Keselowski was joining their team in the No. 12 car, replacing David Stremme. Rumors had been circulating that this was about to happen.

Keselowski had been tap dancing around the news for the past two weeks.

Keselowski finally acknowledged the switch when it was announced by Penske on Tuesday. “Penske Racing is one of the top teams in all of motorsports, and I am honored to join Roger Penske's organization and compete for wins with his Cup and Nationwide Series teams. This is a great opportunity for me to continue competing in the Nationwide Series and to run my first full season in the Cup Series with a strong and experienced team.”

Penske stated in a press release, “We are very excited to welcome Brad to the Penske Racing family. Brad has shown terrific success on track the past several years and has quickly established himself as one of the top young stars in racing.  He is a proven winner and a welcome addition to our team.”

Keselowski had hoped to be part of the Hendricks Motorsports team but there was not room for him next year. I had hoped that Keselowski would be part of the Hendrick’s team too. The combination of his driving skill and Hendrick’s superior equipment would make for a good show for us fans.

Keselowski driving a Hendrick’s car in a full-time Cup schedule would have been exciting and I am disappointed that we won’t be seeing that. But Keselowski made a wise decision in going with Penske.

Keselowski spoke this morning about how much Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s advice helped him make his decision.

"When you have the opportunity to grow and to take on new challenges, and when you're capable of conquering those challenges, you have to take it. You need to grow when you have the opportunity to grow.", Keselowski said that Jr. advised him.

I’m not going to make any predictions about Keselowski’s 2010 year. I learned my lesson with Tony Stewart. Like many people, I felt the Stewart’s move to become an owner-driver was shaky and I’m completely surprised and delighted at Stewart’s strong performance this year.

Jeff Gluck of Scene Daily described Keselowski, “He will enter Cup competition as perhaps the most qualified newcomer since Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer. The “old way” of getting to the Sprint Cup Series (before bringing talented open-wheel drivers like Dario Franchitti and Scott Speed into the top level and throwing them to the wolves) was proving yourself in the Nationwide Series first through a couple seasons of competition. Keselowski has done that and has already won at the Cup level to boot.”

Keselowski has become a good racer who is exceeding expectations and maybe even the accomplishments of his mentor and team owner of JR Motorsports. But that’s a topic for another day.

I’m looking forward to watching Keselowski in 2010.

You can follow me at Twitter @nascarfaithful




You can contact Brenda Benedict at .. Insider Racing News

You Can Read Other Articles By Brenda



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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