In late January, when NASCAR officials scheduled a two-day test for a new short-track aero package, six drivers were chosen to participate. Among them was Brad Keselowski and the No. 6 team from RFK Racing.
Keselowski ended up making an impression on another one of the drivers there.
“I’m like, ‘Holy smokes, the 6 car is really fast,’ and I felt like he was going to have a good year this year,” said Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing.
Bell’s recollection came in response to being asked if the two RKF Racing cars, Keselowski’s and Chris Buescher’s No. 17, are for real this season. Both currently hold down spots on the playoff grid and have taken a clear step forward in performance from a season ago.
“Honestly, it’s funny you bring that up,” Bell said before referring to the test. “Week in, week out, it seems (Keselowski’s) a top 10, top five car. So, it certainly seems they’re headed in the right direction.”
Keselowski is 11th in the overall NASCAR Cup Series championship standings and 13th on the playoff grid. He has a 99-point gap on the cutline after finishing 11th Sunday night at Nashville Superspeedway, with nine races left in the regular season.
Buescher is 12th in the overall championship standings and 14th on the playoff grid. His gap to the cutline is 98 points after finishing a quiet and disappointing 18th at Nashville.
“They’ve definitely gotten better for sure,” said reigning series champion and fellow Ford driver Joey Logano. “They’ve done a good job at keeping up with the rest of the Fords and that’s your baseline. You have to think about where you are and what you’re competing with. From that standpoint, they seem to have made huge gains from last year at this point.
“But a little hit or miss, probably at times. There are times when one of them really hits it, and the other might be a little off, and there are times that they’re like the best car and can win, and there are times they’re not. I think they’re growing and getting better for sure.”
Neither RFK driver made the postseason a year ago. But the 2022 season was one of change as the company welcomed a new era with Keselowski joining as a driver and co-owner. There has been a laundry list of changes made over the last year, some behind-the-scenes, some within the race teams and some, like painting the walls that have nothing to do with the cars going fast.
And yet, both cars are noticeably faster this season. Keselowski has six top-10 finishes and Buescher has seven. At this point a year ago, both drivers needed a win to make the playoffs where it’s now possible – baring the number of race winners, of course – to put both cars into the postseason on points potentially.
Kyle Larson has “definitely” noticed the turnaround as he’s found himself racing both RFK cars more regularly. Larson saw the progress throughout last season but feels it’s been tenfold in 2023.
“Chris Buescher, he’s a very underrated driver,” Larson said. “He’s quiet; nobody really talks about him much, and he’s definitely one of the most talented drivers in the field. And the same goes for Brad. Obviously, he’s a champion.
“He’s been quiet the last few years, but he’s still got the talent to do it, and they’ve done a good job as a team to grow and build and get back to competitive form. I know a win is going to be in his future, for sure, and it’s going to be very satisfying for him whenever he gets it done.
“They’re only a few points behind me, so they’ve obviously been consistent. Wherever they’ve been finishing, I feel like they must be consistent because I have not been consistent, and they’re up in the mix. They’ve done a great job.”
Larson and Tyler Reddick mentioned it’s nice to see a team run well when you know people who work there. Larson is familiar with some members of Keselowski’s team because they moved there from Chip Ganassi Racing, and Larson is a former Ganassi driver. Reddick is glad to see things start to pan out after such a big career move for Keselowski.
“It has been like, ‘Oh damn, now I have to try and race Brad and pass him.’ Or Chris,” said Reddick. “It is cool to see that they’re turning it around and doing what they want to do.”
Denny Hamlin also had high praise.
“I think certainly they’ve been, at times, the banner Ford stable,” Hamlin said. “You look at the 4 car, [Kevin Harvick] he’s definitely an outlier for SHR and kind of leads the Ford camp as far as consistent results.
“But as far as an organization, combining them, I would say RFK has been one of the best Ford teams out there. Certainly, I would say what they are putting out there on the racetrack is for real.”
Keselowski and Buescher acknowledge a lot of racing left to go. Very much in sync, Keselowski and Buescher mentioned the need and push to win races. Buescher did go to victory lane late season at Bristol Motor Speedway, which was proof of concept for the organization.
Buescher does not like to point race and doesn’t want to fall into that trap over the next nine weeks. He wants to see the No. 17 team stick to what they’ve been doing, and if they continue to be competitive each week, the points will handle themselves.
“It’s not complete yet,” Buescher said of having a chance to put both cars in the postseason. “The story is ongoing, and we have a lot of work ahead of us. But it is a measure of a tremendous amount of progress from this point last year for RFK for both of our teams. It’s been a lot of work. This car has been a lot of work. All the change at RFK has been a lot of work.
“It’s cool to see some results from that. We’re still trying to figure out how to get more wins and be in contention, just be a few spots better each week and that’ll definitely help us. But it’s measurable change and improvement, and that’s solid for everybody back at the shop and the track. It’s showing every week at any kind of racetrack we go to, and it’s not just road courses or speedways. Every track we go to, we are night and day better than we were last year.”
There were fleeting moments of potential last season for RFK Racing, including the win at Bristol in which Buescher and Keselowski combined to lead 278 of 500 laps. Buescher finished 21st in the championship standings last season. Keselowski was 24th.
Buescher is positioned to surpass the total number of top-10 finishes he earned last season (10). His next top-five finish will give him one more than he had all of last year.
“I think we’ve got some good vibes going; Chris is on a really big hot streak,” Keselowski said. “He’s run really well the last three or four races, been in contention to win, he won a stage in the Coke 600 and won (a heat race) of the All-Star Race, (was) really good at Sonoma.
“A lot of really great energy there, and they’re kind of scuttling their way up in the points. A lot of excitement there.”
Keselowski has already tied the number of top-10 finishes he had a season ago and surpassed the total number of top-five finishes. But the former series champion said there have been “a lot of ups and downs” with the No. 6 team.
“I felt we were really strong at Charlotte and maybe not as good as we wanted to be at a couple of other places here lately,” Keselowski said. “So, either way, it’s better to be in than be outside looking in, but we’re not as comfortable as we’d like to be. We’d like to have wins. That’s what the sport is about.
“We’ve done a great job, I think, elevating ourselves from irrelevant to relevant, but I don’t want to stop there. We’ve got another step to take, and so we’re working really hard to take that step and put it together. I’m working on it every day. We’re proud of the progress we’ve made, but we need to be winning races.”
If there were an award for the “Most Improved” team, it would go to RFK Racing. Although Keselowski laughed that with how much improvement they needed to make, he’s not sure that’s something to be proud of or not.
But the gains have them looking realistically at the postseason and have the attention of the competition.
“We’ve come a long way, without a doubt, and we’ve got a real shot of putting both cars in the playoffs,” Keselowski said. “But a lot can happen between now and then. But either way, glad to be where we’re at rather than be looking from the outside.”