NASCAR mailbag: Will Brad Keselowski attempt the Indy 500?

With the Sprint Cup Series enjoying the weekend off, Xfinity and Truck series visited Iowa Speedway for a rare twin bill featuring NASCAR’s two other national touring divisions. In a bit of a juxtaposition, returning veteran Sam Hornish Jr. won the Xfinity race, while rising star 18-year-old William Byron took the top honors in the truck event.

If you have a mailbag question you can submit it via Twitter or by emailing jordanmbianchi@gmail.com.

Isn’t Sam Hornish Jr. like a baseball player who’s too talented to be in Triple-A, but not good enough to cut it in the majors? I mean, he’s done very well in the Xfinity Series but when it comes to Sprint Cup the results just haven’t been good.

--Trent

The baseball analogy is an appropriate one, as Hornish has shown he can win races and contend for championships in NASCAR’s No. 2 division, but hasn’t had the same success at the highest level. He has all of three top-five finishes in 167 career Sprint Cup Series starts and a best points ranking of 26th, not exactly sterling statistics.

Although in Hornish’s defense, after a rough initial transition from IndyCar to NASCAR he hasn’t been with a Sprint Cup organization befitting his talent. When he joined Richard Petty Motorsports for the 2015 season, it was an untenable situation. The team had little sponsorship and lacked resources, and as expected Hornish struggled and ultimately lost his ride to a driver (Brian Scott) who could provide funding.

Unfortunately, Hornish is at a crossroads. It’s doubtful he gets another shot with an upper echelon Cup team, which means it’s either latch on with an outfit comparable to RPM or race Xfinity full-time, something the 36-year-old isn’t interested in doing.

While it’s nice to see Hornish win on Sunday, is it really all that surprising or all that big of an accomplishment considering he’s driving for team that dominates Xfinity races like no one else? Had he won with a different team, I think it would be a bigger deal.

--Gene

That Hornish was behind the wheel of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 car, a team that had won a combined five previous times this season with either Kyle Busch or Denny Hamlin driving, certainly demonstrated the quality of equipment Hornish had underneath him and diminishes Sunday’s victory to some degree.

Still, Hornish had to execute and did so flawlessly. A notable feat considering his last race came 210 days prior, meaning he had to re-familiarize himself with live pit stops and restarts. And don’t forget, Hornish didn’t know he’d be competing until just days before. Let’s give him his due.

Since drivers like Iowa Speedway so much and fans always clamor for more short tracks are we getting closer to Iowa getting a Cup race? It seems like a move that would receive universal approval.

--Will

Iowa securing a Cup date would be a popular move across the spectrum. However, there are simply too many hurdles for this to happen in the near future.

Most challenging is the sanctioning agreement NASCAR entered into with its tracks last season, a pact assuring each venue keeps its race(s) through 2020. Unless NASCAR decides to expand the schedule beyond 36 races (not happening) or another shifts its date to Iowa (also not happening), the popular short track will have to be content hosting the Xfinity and truck series.

Anything going to actually come of Brad Keselowski testing an Indy car or was it more of a one-off and him just taking advantage of the opportunity to try something different?

--Tom

Taking laps in an Indy car was something Keselowski long wanted to try and when offered the chance, he immersed himself fully. To better withstand the G-forces, he began working out to gain 20 pounds of muscle and spent hours upon hours in a simulator -- he says over 50 hours in total -- getting acclimated. That doesn’t give the impression of someone who saw the test as just a way to kill time during an off-week.

Whether anything more comes of it remains to be seen and is a question Keselowski didn’t have a firm answer for when SB Nation asked him last week. He’s definitely intrigued by the idea, but adamantly stated he is a NASCAR driver first and foremost, and any further opportunities -- be it another test or a race -- would have to fit around that.

As for what happens going forward: The hunch is Road America was the first, but not the last time, Keselowski drives a Team Penske Indy car in some fashion.