DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In the wake of Brad Keselowski taking a spin in his Indy car, Roger Penske says you could see another Sprint Cup driver soon at the Indianapolis 500.
But it won’t necessarily be a Team Penske driver behind the wheel.
Penske hinted a few other NASCAR stars are poking around about the possibility of joining John Andretti, Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon and Kurt Busch as drivers who have raced the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 same-day doubleheader, known as “The Double” in racing circles.
“I’m not sure we’re planning to put (Keselowski) in a car at Indianapolis at this point, but it’s amazing, there’s been a couple of Cup drivers, not to mention names, that have come to us that maybe want to run The Double,” Penske told NBC Sports after Keselowski’s Coke Zero 400 win at Daytona International Speedway. “You never know. We might have a chance for one of these guys to jump in our car.”
Keselowski jumped in one during an IndyCar test last month at Road America, lapping the 4.048-mile road course in Wisconsin for two hours. Though his times were a few seconds off the pace of teammate Simon Pagenaud, Keselowski’s learning curve and pace still impressed Team Penske president Tim Cindric and others in the organization.
“The IndyCar was amazing,” Keselowski told NBC Sports after his win Saturday night. “I thought it went fairly well. Of course, you always want to be faster. I wanted to do it longer and keep learning and building off of it, but it was a great experience.
“You never know where the future is going to take us, but it was nice at the very least to knock something off the bucket list and be prepared for whatever future opportunity there might be.”
Might that future include the 2017 Indy 500?
“I wouldn’t say yes, I wouldn’t say no,” he said. “Anything could happen.”
The last driver to race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway on the same day was Kurt Busch in 2014. Defending Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch has indicated he wants to attempt “The Double” in the future, as have Kyle Larson and Kasey Kahne.
