When Brad Keselowski announced he would shut down his Truck Series team, many assumed it was directly tied to the high cost of running a truck — which Keselowski said causes him to lose $1 million a year.
And while that was certainly a factor — Keselowski acknowledged Friday his new contract with Team Penske resulted in a smaller piece of the pie for Trucks — he said in both a blog post and comments to reporters there was another major part of the decision.
Keselowski would like to be a Cup Series team owner one day, but he believes he cannot do so without a sustainable business. So the driver plans to start a manufacturing business of some kind — the specifics of which he said he was not ready to announce — to help eventually fund a Cup team. And he would use the current space in the Brad Keselowski Racing shop to do that.
“If you look at all the business owners at this level – and really all three of these levels – they have a sustainable, profitable business outside of motorsports,” he said Friday. ” That’s going to remain the key for any owner to have success.”
Keselowski said he could continue to fund his team through racing, but that would only last until he stops driving. Then his business would have to shut down because “I don’t have a profit center.”
“Having that profit center is what helps you get through the ebbs and flows that every race team has, so I need to have one of those profit centers,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that I’ll be a Cup owner one day, but that means when the time is right, if we achieve the goals that I have, I’ll have the opportunity to make that decision myself and not have it made for me.”
Anyway, it’s interesting to consider that while economics may have been the primary factor to push Keselowski out of the Truck Series, an eye on the future also played a role.
make them new carbon body panels!
What’s that old saying? “The best way to make a small fortune in racing is to start with a big one?”
I mean… Roger Penske has his trucking company. Rick Hendrick has his car dealership. Jack Roush partnered with the people who own the Red Sox (and I think he owns a car part manufacturing company?), and I think Richard Childress has a winery. Even Barney Visser has his furniture company.
So what’s the outside company Joe Gibbs has?
I’m sorry to see BKR go — and Ford’s presence in the Truck Series along with it — but unless and until NASCAR’s business model changes, this really is the name of the game.
Gibbs and Ganassi are the only two successful owners I can think of whose business is specifically racing. And that’s rare.
Richards Childress is successful without a major outside business. He bought the winery in 2004. Started out as a driver.
Gibbs has Toyota money
The top Cup teams are basically manufacturing companies anyway, so that’s a good angle to approach.
Joe Gibbs has some of the best sponsorship deals year after year. That keeps him going, Fed Ex and M&Ms stay on the car almost every race which doesn’t happen very often.
I’d imagine that Joe did rather well during his years coaching in the NFL and invested wisely.
Sponsor money drying up but the big rumor I’m hearing at Bristol Garage is Kenseth/Busch joining a new manufacturer that will start racing it’s brand in 2019 but will lease cars next year to build a team. Could it be Dodge or someone else?
Dodge