“He Wanted Control!” Denny Hamlin Revealed 23XI Racing Offered Brad Keselowski a Cup Seat

The NASCAR community was in shock, when it was announced that 2026 will mark the last year of the Brad Keselowski-RFK Racing partnership, as the 2012 Champion is set to walk away from the owner driver role at the end of the season. This got the attention of JGR owner driver Denny Hamlin and he revealed a failed deal that could’ve changed the veteran career forever.

The No:11 driver revealed that when Keselowski-Penske spilt was confirmed, he contacted the veteran to lure him to his team 23XI Racing. But one major challenge that halted the negotiations was the pay check the racer was asking.

But I just think back to when he left Penske. I think I contacted Brad about driving at 23XI.  And Brad was very firm on; I want this amount of money and ownership. And I was like, ‘Whoa, what?’ And he was very steadfast that’s what he believes his value is. It was a lot. And listen, who am I to say that someone’s worth something or is not worth that much?

Denny Hamlin said on his podcast.

It was too big for Roger Penske and too big for Michael Jordan’s team as well, ending any possibility of a deal. Once Brad Keselowski failed to find the seat that was ready to offer him the big bag with Penske and 23XI, he went looking at other places.

But, you know, I don’t know how the contract negotiations went between him and Penske…But it seemed like they got to an impasse where, from what I hear, he was wanting a lot of money, and they just were not willing to shell out that amount of money at the time. So, then he went looking.

Denny Hamlin added via Actions Detrimental.

That’s when the Roush Fenway group owned team gave him the money and the opportunity to become part of the ownership group. That was a deal too good for the businessman in Keselowski to ignore according to Denny Hamlin.

And the opportunity came up at RFK. And they’re looking to re-surge their program, and they’re willing to pay, and they’re willing to give him the ownership. It seems like the control was something that he really, really wanted. He wanted control.

Denny Hamlin asserted.

Brad Keselowski broke silence on 23XI offer after Denny Hamlin revelation

Once the news was broken by the TRD driver on his podcast, Keselowski talked about it on his X page. He revealed that the deal was interesting to him and he countered with a offer that was similar to the deal he got from RFK, but 23XI Racing wasn’t ready to match it.

Since Denny put this out on his own accord, I can confirm that an offer was made for me to join his team. At the time of offer (Roughly April 2021), RFR had gone to contract with their offer and it was ready to sign. I was very interested in the opportunity and offered them a quick match to gauge seriousness. Didn’t go any further so here we are…The story of the deals that didn’t come together could feed families for decades.

Brad Keselowski wrote on X.

If the now No:6 Ford driver had taken the deal, his whole career would’ve been much different, and he might still have a seat at 23XI for 2027. It would be interesting to see if Hamlin’s team can sign him and offer the veteran a Cup and Truck Series deal, that would see him running a schedule that is similar to Corey Heim’s 2026 season.

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