Brad Keselowski Racing announced Thursday that it will cease operations after the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, prepping for a potential move to NASCAR’s top division at a much later date.
The announcement came from namesake team owner Brad Keselowski, the 2012 champion of NASCAR’s premier series. Keselowski’s organization currently fields Fords F-150s for Chase Briscoe, 22, and 18-year-old Austin Cindric, both in their first full season of truck competition.
“The Truck Series is truly special to me given my family’s ties to the history of the sport, and this decision comes with much contemplation,” Keselowski said in the team release, mentioning his father, Bob, who was a pioneering truck competitor dating back to the series’ first season. “But, for a number of reasons, and as I plan for the long-term future, I’ve decided not to field a team in 2018.”
Keselowski has fielded entries in the Camping World Truck Series since 2008, helping further the careers of many young drivers, including Ryan Blaney, Daniel Hemric and Tyler Reddick. The BKR organization scored its first win in 2012 with Blaney at the wheel, adding eight more victories to its tally in the years that followed.
Brad Keselowski Racing moved into a gleaming, 78,000-square-foot shop in Statesville, North Carolina, ahead of the 2016 season. Keselowski indicated that he hoped to use that headquarters as a base of operations for potential entry into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at a much later stage of his career.
“I’ve never made it a secret that I would eventually like to be an owner at the top level of the sport,” said Keselowski, who further explained the reasons behind his difficult decision in his personal blog. “And, while this is many years down the line, I want to start to prepare for that possibility now. Part of that preparation is seeking to develop an advanced engineering and manufacturing company that would be housed out of our 78,000-square-foot facility in Statesville and ultimately help to support this vision.”
The team said in the release that it remained committed to finishing strong in the 2017 Camping World Truck Series campaign. Briscoe sits fourth in the series standings with two pole positions in the 14 races thus far. Cindric ranks 10th, riding a string of six straight top-10 finishes in the series.
