The Sprint Cup Series' latest winner, Brad Keselowski, is so effervescent it's hard for him to maintain much of a poker face, but Friday at Richmond International Raceway he remained pretty coy about his future, even in the face of seemingly limitless possibilities.

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Brad Keselowski talks about his future in the Sprint Cup Series, and how he celebrated his Talladega victory.

• Watch Video
• Victory Lane: Talladega
• Final Laps: Talladega

A Hendrick Motorsports spokesman confirmed that team owner Rick Hendrick was "under the weather" this week and had only had limited conversations with Keselowski. The HMS development driver won the Aaron's 499 driving a former Hendrick Chevrolet fielded last weekend by James Finch's Phoenix Racing. The team spokesman also said Hendrick is in a period in which it has the exclusive right to deal with Keselowski.

"Opportunities or situations to make [a full 2010 Cup schedule] work -- I don't think you guys have time to hear them all," Keselowski said. "I've put some thought into it, but not a lot. The basics of it are that we still have a few months to work some other things out. Specifically, I'm working with HMS and owe it to them to see what they can work out. I think the key part about this whole situation of where I'm at with contracts and next year is that you stick with what got you to where you're at.

"Having competitive cars and having support from HMS and being able to look at their data and talk to their drivers is what got me into Victory Lane on Sunday. It's hard to run from that, you know? But at the same time, at this point and at this time, there isn't a clear opportunity there. So we'll have to see how that plays out."

Hendrick currently fields four teams for three-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, four-time champion Jeff Gordon, Keselowski's Nationwide Series boss Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin, who returned this season to drive full-time after two part-time seasons. Martin reportedly is mulling over whether or not to step out of Hendrick's No. 5 car for another part-time schedule next season, or to keep running full time.

Hendrick is part owner of Earnhardt's JR Motorsports, and also fields a part-time No. 25 R&D Chevrolet that Keselowski is scheduled to make a limited number of starts in this season, including next weekend at Darlington Raceway.

Keselowski said he turned down an offer from owner Roger Penske for this season because he didn't think he was ready, but after winning Sunday -- a fact he said he still can hardly believe -- he's beginning to change his mind.

"Well, I'd like to be in Cup full time next year," Keselowski said. "I feel like I've made some progression toward the end of the year last year, and toward the start of this year, to where maybe I'm a 10th- to 20th-place Cup driver. I know that to make that next step, I need to run full time. I need to have a full-time ride at the Cup level to be a guy who can run for the Chase or take wins."

Keselowski laughed when he said winning at Talladega "can't hurt," but to the same degree Earnhardt has said he's in no hurry to determine if Keselowski will drive for him next season, so too is Keselowski on his next step.

"I've only talked to Mr. Hendrick very briefly, so I haven't had any detailed discussions on next year with him," Keselowski said. "But that's down the road and I'm not going to try and rush that. We're going to take our time and stick with that because like I said, that's gotten me where I'm at, that relationship.

"So I don't want to run from it because there's a different opportunity or whatever or so to speak -- and that goes the same on the JR Motorsports deal on the Nationwide side and with Dale, and I don't want to run from that either because the things I was able to learn there are what got to me to where I can run competitively at the Cup level. Does this strengthen the negotiations? I'd like to think it does."

One thing it hasn't done is clarify whose car Keselowski might drive in the All-Star Race in two weeks, for which he qualified by winning Talladega.

"I went from being not even eligible to run the Open [qualifying race] to locked into the big show. That's pretty awesome," Keselowski said. "At this time we haven't got the All-Star situation figured out as far as what I'm driving and so forth."

But Keselowski's remarks proved he knows how his bread is buttered, so to speak.

"That's why the whole contract negotiation is very pivotal to the future of my career and I know that," Keselowski said. "HMS is what got me here and what's got me talking to you right now. I need to be a part of that if I want to continue to talk to you guys and continue to have the shot to win races."

Neither Keselowski nor Earnhardt had much to say about JR Motorsports fielding a Cup team in 2010.

"I would say anything is a possibility -- I wouldn't write anything off," Keselowski said. "I'm not sure I understand in the entirety the relationship of how it would work; I kind of stay away from that. It'll be interesting to see how it goes from there."

Earnhardt has already said he'd like Keselowski to keep driving his No. 88 Chevrolet in 2010. He's not as sure about taking his company to the Cup level.

"We would consider it, but we have to do what's right for the company and the business," Earnhardt said. "I feel like I just need to make sure that's the right thing to do for the business. It might not even be what Brad wants. He might want to jump into an established program, which I would, too. I'm sure he has some other opportunities that might be more entertaining."

But according to Keselowski, they'd probably not be more rewarding.