If it was Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s call, Brad Keselowski wouldn't have to worry about his immediate future in NASCAR.

After Keselowski's upset victory in Sunday's Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, the 25-year-old Michigan native said he had no idea what his future held -- at least beyond 2009.

“

I feel like I'm ready to run at [the Cup] level full time, and hopefully there are some that agree with that after [Sunday]

”

BRAD KESELOWSKI

"I don't know where I'm at to be honest -- I know I don't have anything locked in, that's really all I can say -- I don't have a ride secured for next year," Keselowski said after the race. "Everything to this point has been wait and see. I know [winning] certainly can't hurt.

"To be honest, I've put it off myself, personally, because I don't even know what I want to do. I feel like I'm ready to run at this level full time, and hopefully there are some that agree with that after [Sunday]. It's a matter of getting on the right teams, the right sponsorship and all of the stars aligning, and that's not something you can rush. As far as contracts and all that go, I don't know. I don't understand them. I know I don't have a ride for next year."

Earnhardt, whose No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Keselowski drives in the Nationwide Series, said No. 1, he wasn't surprised his protégé had won; No. 2, he wasn't surprised how much he'd developed; and No. 3, he wanted to continue employing him for the 2010 season.

Keselowski, who came out of the Talladega weekend sixth in the Nationwide standings after finishing ninth in Saturday's Aaron's 312, won on Sunday driving a Hendrick Motorsports car for Phoenix Racing owner James Finch. It was Keselowski's fifth career Cup start and the first series victory for both he and Finch.

"I was not surprised at all," Earnhardt said. "That car was at one time a backup to the [Hendrick Motorsports] 5 car, so it was a Hendrick chassis, Hendrick powerplant under the hood that James Finch had rented for the race. So I mean, you got a real good crew chief, he's got a lot of decent mechanics, worker bees on his team -- Marc Reno, he's got tons of experience as a crew chief.

"So I'm not surprised at all because I know how good Brad is and I know how hungry he is. You have to imagine how amazingly driven he was, to be sitting there in that position at the end of that race. If you know Brad at all personally, you know that's all he does is think about racing 24/7 -- what he can do. So he's almost over-analyzing himself at times. I have to kind of tell him to stop thinking so much about it."

But because of that, Earnhardt would like to continue both Keselowski's development and that of his race team, in-house.

"I'd like Brad to drive my Nationwide car again if he wants to," Earnhardt said. "But as far as what he does in his Cup stuff, that's with Rick [Hendrick]. It's my understanding that that's particularly not any of my business up until they're ready to share that information.

"Whatever Rick wants to do with Brad, it's up to him on the Cup side. I'm in the business of trying to help guys win races in the Nationwide Series and trying to help them become better race car drivers.

"I feel like we've really achieved that goal with Brad, and he's sort of done what we set out to do with our program. You know, it's really up to him if he wants to keep driving the car. We'll work that out. We're not really in no big hurry."

Earnhardt said he personally had no worries about Keselowski, and for the short term he was staying in the background. He said in a media conference call Tuesday he didn't anticipate seeing Keselowski until later in the week.

"He's got a bright future," Earnhardt said. "I don't really know what our plans are for finding him opportunities past the level of the Nationwide Series. I can't really say much about it.

"There's a part of me that's real happy for him, proud for him, and I feel like I've helped him get to this point in some way. But the other side of you wants to let him experience it solely on his own and let him answer all the questions for himself because he earned all the credit he's getting for that win and for his ability to run well.

"I don't want me or Rick or anybody to get in there and try to steal any of his thunder or take any of the attention away from where it belongs right now."

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