2010 Team Reviews: Penske Racing Perseveres as Lone Dodge Team

When Ryan Newman took the checkered flag in the 2008 Daytona 500, Penske Racing, his team at the time, got its first win in NASCAR's biggest race. Now team owner and motorsports mogul Roger Penske is in the market for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

In that regard, Penske looked to be in terrible position before the start of last season after it became the lone team operating under the Dodge banner. Penske made the best of the situation and, in fact, may have gained from the undivided attention his operation received from Dodge.

The team's driving leader, former champion Kurt Busch, made a small push by securing another berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, while Brad Keselowski often struggled in his first season as a full-time driver in the Cup Series. The team's other driver, Sam Hornish Jr., may see his ride disappear in NASCAR's top division after yet another disappointing season in his three-year career.

11th - Kurt Busch [2 wins, 9 Top-5s, 17 Top-10s, 2 DNFs, 15.3 Avg. Finish]

It took just four races in the 2010 season for Kurt Busch to lay claim to his first win of the year, taking the checkered flag at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March. The win -- which featured Busch scraping the wall several times -- seemed to galvanize Busch's chance of being a real championship contender.

However, lack of consistency through the rest of the season derailed Busch's bid -- despite a jaw-dropping run in May that secured wins in both the Sprint Cup All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Once Busch earned his way into the Chase, the No. 2 team foundered in its championship bid.

Busch managed just one top-five run during the 2010 championship fight, a fourth place in the second of ten races at Dover. It wasn't until seven races later at Phoenix that Busch found the top 10 again -- certainly far too late to be in any sort of championship contention.

Brad Keselowski [0 wins, 0 Top-5s, 2 Top-10s, 5 DNFs, 22.4 Avg. Finish]

Brad Keselowski might as well have been NASCAR's newest Sprint Cup hot shot after his big 2009 season in the Nationwide Series under the JR Motorsports banner. But with JR's partner team Hendrick Motorsports failing to have an opening at the Sprint Cup Series level, Keselowski was forced to look elsewhere to advance.

Penske Racing quickly snatched up Keselowski's driving services, and in the No. 12 Dodge, the Michigan driver worked through the type of season most would expect from a first-year Sprint Cup driver. It's important to note, however, that Keselowski wasn't a rookie according to NASCAR rules because he had exceeded the limit of seven races after driving in 15 events in 2009 for three different car owners.

Keselowski's pair of top-10 finishes came just when team officials would love them to -- late in the season -- when he recorded consecutive 10th-place runs at Martinsville and Talladega. In the season finale, Keselowski -- who also won the 2010 Nationwide Series championship for Penske -- finished 13th at Homestead.

Sam Hornish Jr. [0 wins, 0 Top-5s, 1 Top-10, 4 DNFs, 24.9 Avg. Finish]

Quietly into the night, it seems, has gone Sam Hornish Jr.'s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career.

After three full seasons and 108 total races, Hornish's backwards slide towards near-rookie numbers in 2010 didn't bode well for the former IndyCar champion's stock car future.

Hornish, right, posted just one top-10 finish in 2010, down from seven a year ago, and has lost sponsorship for his No. 77 Dodge. As a result, although Hornish is slated to run the Daytona 500,there's no sure bet on what kind of support he'll have beyond that from Penske Racing.

Hornish's 2010 season, as documented by his lack of success in the typical statistics, never really hit a stride. Just once -- during a three-race span from Martinsville to Texas in the spring -- did Hornish finish in the Top-20 for three consecutive races.

Hornish's best run of 2010? A 10th-place finish at Loudon in September.

Penske's Best of 2010: Kurt Busch's early success at the 1.5-mile tracks, including a sweep of Charlotte in May.

Penske's Worst of 2010: Sam Hornish Jr.'s complete lack of productivity and success.

What to expect from Penske in 2011: Busch, no longer the Miller Lite driver in 2011, will be expected to lead the way again for Penske under the Shell-Pennzoil banner. Meanwhile, Keselowski, who moves from the No. 12 to Busch's old No. 2 Miller Lite ride, will certainly need to improve in his sophomore season at Penske with consistently good finishes.