Brad Keselowski wants to be a NASCAR Cup Series team owner, just not yet

Despite recently closing down his Truck Series team, Brad K’s long term goal remains the same.

Not every NASCAR star knows what lies ahead in the post-racing stage of their career. For example, by all accounts, it took some soul-searching and contemplation for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to decide on broadcasting. Brad Keselowski, though, knows exactly what he’d like to do when his driving days are over.

That’s to own his own NASCAR Cup Series team. Keselowski took the first steps in that direction by starting his own team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, but Brad Keselowski Racing isn’t going to compete in that series in 2018.

So does that mean his ultimate goal of top level team ownership is dead? Not according to what he recently told Motorsport.

"“Absolutely. It’s 100 percent my dream. There’s a lot of things that have to happen to make that a possibility — including the support of a manufacturer and the health of the sport being at a high point. But it’s my intention to get to that position in the long-term future.“I feel I have a lot of driving days left in front of me. I want to make the most of this incredible opportunity I have at Penske.“But when that opportunity runs out, which it will, I’m not infallible and I’m not going to live forever, racing is what I know. It’s what I love. I want to be involved in it some way. It makes the most sense to me for that to be in some kind of ownership capacity where I can make the most of my skill set as a leader of a team.”"

Let’s address Keselowski’s two caveats. Manufacturer support is a real issue, but assuming Team Penske remains with Ford for the rest of his driving career, one would imagine Ford would love to work with him.

The “health of the sport” part is a lot harder to determine, partially because it’s subjective. NASCAR is down from its peak earlier this century. It may never get back to those heights again.

Historically, though, the popularity of sports is often cyclical, and stock car racing could ramp back up again at some point. But what level of success it needs to achieve depends on Keselowski’s own criteria, and what is true today might be very different in that regard whenever he decides to step away from competition.

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Still, since none of the sport’s recent retirees except Tony Stewart — who was already co-owner of his team when he was still driving — have expressed interest in becoming the next Roger Penske or Rick Hendrick, it’s intriguing to hear Keselowski say that he might. NASCAR has to be happy hearing that’s still a possibility.