Brad Keselowski

We knew things would be tough for Keselowski making the transition from Penske to Roush last season, but we had no idea they would be as disastrous as they would become in 2022. The veteran driver and co-owner of the No. 6 Ford struggled to just six Top-10 finishes and no victories last season. It was Keselowski's worst campaign since his rookie season of 2010. To compound performance issues, Keselowski and the No. 6 team were slapped with one of the biggest fines/penalties in NASCAR history (100 points, $100,000) after their modification of single-sourced parts was discovered following the March Atlanta race. It was a severe blow to this driver and team and they'd never dig out of that hole the rest of the way. It was the primary reason Keselowski finished 24th-place in the driver points last year. We're cautiously optimistic about some form of rebound in the upcoming season, but we're conservatively ranking Keselowski 20th prior to the start of the season.

The veteran driver suffered his least productive campaign since 2013 with his statistics of last season. Keselowski registered just one win and 17 Top-10 finishes. That's well below the 3.3 wins and 21 Top 10's he's averaged over the three previous seasons. The drop off in performance didn't hurt too much as Keselowski got hot at the end of last season and finished 2021 strong with a sixth-place finish in the Chase for the Cup. Keselowski moves on from Team Penske in the upcoming season and lands with his new race team Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing as an owner/driver. The 2012 Cup Series champion bought an ownership stake in Roush Fenway and will pilot the team's flagship No. 6 Ford in the upcoming season. Roush hasn't featured a multi-win driver since 2017 and has only had two multi-win drivers since 2014. It's been a lean run for this camp for several seasons. Keselowski will look to reverse that, but there will be some bumps along the way in restoring the prestige of this team.

Keselowski's 2020 season was statistically his best campaign since 2016. The move to crew chief Jeremy Bullins last year seemed to pay dividends and spark this veteran driver to some higher performance. Keselowski grabbed four victories and 22 Top-10 finishes en route to a second-place finish in the championship standings. He seemed to have more consistency week-to-week and lowered his average finish to 10.1, which is as low as he's posted since his 2012 championship season. Keselowski will look to hold onto these gains in 2021 and even take it up a few notches. Bullins returns to guide the No. 2 Ford team and to continue building chemistry with Keselowski. The duo has to be very confident and upbeat about the new season. With one year under their belts of no practice and qualifying, Keselowski and his Penske Racing team have successfully adapted to this style of racing. He may present the most upside potential of the top tier drivers in 2021.

Keselowski turned in his typical three-win, 19 Top-10 finish campaign last season, but fell short of advancing into the final round of the Chase. For the second-straight season, the Penske Racing star suffered some inconsistency in the playoffs and fell short of racing for the championship at Homestead. This has really been the pattern for Keselowski the last three seasons. He's averaged about three wins and 20 Top 10's but has lacked the crucial push late in the season to challenge for the championship. We'll see if the No. 2 Ford team can solve that puzzle in 2020. Once again, Keselowski will be paired with crew chief Paul Wolfe to see if they can return to 2012 championship form. It is a bit concerning that Keselowski's lone title has grown so distant in the rearview mirror. With a pattern of performance so well set over the last three seasons, he's solidly placed seventh in the pre-season driver rankings.

Keselowski turned in his typical three-win, 20 Top-10 campaign last season, but fell short of advancing into the final round of the Chase. Some inconsistency in the Round of 8 kept the Penske Racing star from advancing into the championship round. This level of performance has become a bit of a predictable trend for the 10-year veteran. Last year it kept him nipping at the heels of the Big 3, and just outside of serious contention for the Monster Energy Cup Series championship. He and crew chief Paul Wolfe will once again team up and look to up their game. The duo won the championship back in 2012, but that is sadly falling way back into the rear view mirror at this point. Keselowski is an amazing driver of considerable skill, but this team is lacking a nudge or bump that would move them higher in these rankings. The jury is still out if they can improve this season, or continue to post their typical stat line of 3-14-21.

Keselowski posted his typical campaign last year with three wins and 21 Top-10 finishes. He did have a couple rough patches during the season, but this has been typical of the Penske Racing star the last few years. Unlike the four prior seasons, Keselowski actually made it into the championship round at Homestead in 2017, although he was the long-odds shot at winning the title. He still finished a very impressive fourth in the final driver standings for his best mark since winning the championship in 2012. Keselowski has set a pretty distinct pattern for his level of performance since winning that championship. Fantasy racing players know what to expect from this veteran driver and team on draft day. He's currently the most dominant driver in the series on superspeedways and larger ovals, and we don't see that changing in 2018.

The Penske Racing star finished a distant 12th in the driver standings last season, but that was a function of two variables. Going cold at the wrong time, and the Chase playoff format led to his early exit from the Chase. He really had a much better season than his final standings position shows. Keselowski racked up four victories and 22 Top-10 finishes. Those numbers are on par with what he's averaged the last three seasons. He had crew chief Paul Wolfe will continue forward with the success they've built in the No. 2 Ford team in 2017. Keselowski has one championship in the bank and he's looking for more, so that makes him both a talented and hungry driver.

It might seem that Joey Logano has supplanted Keselowski as the number one driver at Penske Racing, that's no reason to discount the driver of the No. 2 Ford. Keselowski made a deep run in last season's Chase for the Cup and compiled two pole positions and seven top-10 finishes during NASCAR's playoff. The veteran driver had a down season in the victory department with only one, but he still collected a career-best 25 top-10 finishes. Paul Wolfe returns in 2016 to lead the team again, and in the hopes that he and Keselowski can mount a challenge for that second championship for the Michigan native. There's good reason to expect an uptick in wins and consistency for this driver and team in the upcoming season.

The “Jimmie Johnson” of the next decade has arrived in the form of Keselowski. The 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion dueled with and beat the best in the sport to win last season’s title. The Penske Racing star isn’t finished by a long shot, in fact, we expect a long and very successful career for the driver of the No. 2 Ford. Keselowski will stay with crew chief Paul Wolfe yet again in the upcoming season, but the Penske team makes the jump to Ford from Dodge. That’s the only change in this team’s championship chemistry. It’s taken a very long time for owner Roger Penske to ascend to the top of the sport, and there’s good reason to believe Keselowski will keep him there for a while.