The dominoes are starting to fall. Team Penske announced Thursday that Brad Keselowski will be replaced by Austin Cindric in the NASCAR Cup series starting in 2022.
The move had been widely expected as the rumors are that Keselowski will become part owner at Roush-Fenway Racing starting next season.
Cindric has been part of Penske’s farm system for the past several years racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series where he won the championship last season. Keselowski won the Cup series championship with Team Penske in 2012.
Cindric had been expected to move to the No. 21 for Wood Brothers Racing next season. The Wood Brothers has a technical alliance with Penske.
The rumors of the Roush move for Keselowski began earlier in the season and it’s believed that he is the one who started the process to become a team owner.
The odd driver out in all this is Matt DiBenedetto. The popular driver has been under a year-to-year contract with the Wood Brothers and was given an extension for this season. With the No. 2 opening up at Penske and being filled by Cindric there seemed to be the possibility of a lifeline of sorts for the fan favorite DiBenedetto. Those hopes were dashed Thursday when the Wood Brothers announced that Harrison Burton will be driving the No. 21 for Wood Brothers Racing starting in 2022.
Burton has been competing in the NASCAR Xfinity series for Joe Gibbs Racing.
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) July 15, 2021
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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