Tag: RFK Racing

Brad Keselowski to have new NASCAR crew chief at RFK Racing in 2025

Brad Keselowski will have a brand new crew chief on top of the No. 6 box at RFK Racing during the 2025 season as Matt McCall won’t return.

[autotag]Brad Keselowski[/autotag] will have a new NASCAR crew chief on top of the No. 6. box at [autotag]RFK Racing[/autotag] in 2025. On Thursday morning, RFK Racing announced that crew chief Matt McCall will not return to the No. 6 team in 2025. Over the last three years at RFK Racing, McCall has led Keselowski to one win, which came at Darlington Raceway in the spring.

It’s unclear who will replace McCall at RFK Racing; however, FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass said he “would not be surprised” if Jeremy Bullins reunited with Keselowski next year. Bullins previously served as Keselowski’s crew chief in his final two seasons with Team Penske, where he earned five wins and a second-place finish in the 2020 point standings.

Bullins will not return as crew chief of the No. 21 Cup car for Wood Brothers Racing in 2025, giving him the flexibility to join Keselowski if that is RFK Racing’s decision. Keselowski has shown speed in 2024, but the playoffs have not produced the expected results. It will be interesting to see who joins the No. 6 team in 2025.

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‘I did what I felt like I needed to do’ Keselowski says about not blocking Stenhouse at Talladega

Brad Keselowski didn’t throw a block coming to the finish in Sunday’s Cup Series YellaWood 500 Talladega Superspeedway, and among those surprised was winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Keselowski chose to remain on the bottom and hoped his drafting help – …

Brad Keselowski didn’t throw a block coming to the finish in Sunday’s Cup Series YellaWood 500 Talladega Superspeedway, and among those surprised was winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Keselowski chose to remain on the bottom and hoped his drafting help – Kyle Larson – was enough to potentially drag race Stenhouse to the finish line. But Stenhouse had a better run on the outside lane, with help from William Byron, to make the pass and have enough to get to the finish line first.

The margin of victory was just 0.006s.

“They were going to split me, which is what I would do if I were them,” Keselowski said of his decision. “I didn’t feel like I had a shot to move up in front of the No. 47. We didn’t have enough smoke with the No. 24 pushing him; he would have just driven right around us and we’d have been swallowed.

“I did what I felt like I needed to do and got a good push from the No. 5, but it wasn’t enough.”

The field was largely in the same two-by-two formation coming to the finish as it was when the overtime attempt began. Keselowski chose the bottom while Stenhouse was on the outside. Larson lined up behind Keselowski while Byron was behind Stenhouse. Christopher Bell and Kyle Busch were in the third row, and Busch was shuffled out on the final lap when no one went with him to the third lane.

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Stenhouse led Keselowski, Byron, and Larson across the finish line. Erik Jones made it to fifth as Bell finished sixth.

“[I was] very surprised,” Stenhouse said. “I would say Kyle [Larson] and I are the best friends out there you could have, and Kyle wins a lot of races and I know that he’s probably going to help me out as much as he can, so I was really shocked. I was waiting for the block, and I was going to decide whether I was clear enough to get to his inside and get in front of the No. 5 or hang a right and take our momentum with the No. 24.

“Yeah, I was super shocked that he didn’t make that right-hand [move].”

Once again, it was another second-place finish for Keselowski at the Alabama superspeedway. In the spring race, he went for a final-lap move on leader Michael McDowell, but contact between the two allowed Tyler Reddick to drive by when a crash broke out.

“It’s a good finish for us,” Keselowski said. “We’ve been knocking on the door of these plate tracks. I hate that we didn’t bust through with a win, but I’m happy to be right there in contention.”

Buescher pounces on SVG’s error to win at Watkins Glen

In a largely chaotic race – action-packed literally from the drop of the green flag, it was Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher who prevailed in overtime in Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen – passing road course ace Shane van Gisbergen in …

In a largely chaotic race – action-packed literally from the drop of the green flag, it was Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher who prevailed in overtime in Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen – passing road course ace Shane van Gisbergen in a bumper-to-bumper last lap duel to claim his first career road course victory at the famed Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

Van Gisbergen took the lead from the second row in a daring three-wide move on an overtime restart, but Buescher chased him down. Buescher’s No. 17 RFK Racing Ford and van Gisbergen’s No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet made contact in the course’s famous Bus Stop, then Buescher slid his Mustang inside van Gisbergen’s Camaro in the Esses and motored off to a 0.979s win over the Kiwi superstar in the second Playoff race of the season.

 

Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar, Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain and Spire’s Zane Smith rounded out the top five. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe finished sixth, followed by Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell, Spire’s Corey LaJoie, SHR’s Ryan Preece and Team Penske’s Austin Cindric.

Briscoe and Cindric were the only two Playoff drivers to finish among the top 10 in what was a perpetually dramatic day for the 16 Playoff drivers racing for the NASCAR Cup Series championship.

“Oh man, it was such a good Ford Mustang. Speed was so great and long run speed phenomenal,” said the 31-year-old Texan Buescher, who just missed qualifying for the Playoffs when Briscoe won the regular season finale at Darlington three weeks ago.

“I thought we lost it there on the last one but, man, to stay right there with him… It was a spot he was better than us, but he just missed it so I tried to cross over and just … hard racing. What an awesome finish. To be that good for so much at the end of the race – all race – to get a win is good.

“We came here to be spoilers and we’re going to do that.”

Van Gisbergen, who won the Chicago Street Race last season in his first ever NASCAR Cup Series start, was a factor all day as expected for the former Australian Supercars champion, who will compete full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series next year in the No. 88 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing.

“Driver error, yeah,” van Gisbergen said of his slip in the Bus Stop. “I knew Chris was really going to send it and push me if he could get there and as I turned back I was a bit loose and clipped the inside wall. Just driver error and I’m gutted.

“The race was really awesome there with Ross [Chastain] and Chris and the others at the end, I’m gutted we couldn’t get it. We had a lot of fun, but I’m pretty angry at myself.”

It was a fitting dramatic ending to a day that shook up the Playoff standings from the opening lap to the final lap (92). Twelve of the 16 Playoff drivers suffered some sort of “challenge” on the day.

Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney – who led the points standings entering the race — was eliminated from the race on lap one after being innocently caught up in collision that included half a dozen cars, including fellow Playoff competitors Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Christopher Bell.

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It was just the beginning of a long, challenging day for Hamlin who was involved in another accident mid-race. He was part of a three-wide line of Playoff drivers – also including Kyle Larson and Keselowski – trying to make it through the track’s famous Esses. Unfortunately for Hamlin, there wasn’t enough room for three-wide challenges and his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota again suffered damage.

Larson and fellow Playoff drivers, regular season champion Tyler Reddick, Bell, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott and William Byron were involved in multiple incidents throughout the day.

The high-speed, high-action day ended a streak of five consecutive Hendrick Motorsports wins at the historic 2.45-mile Watkins Glen track. Among the Playoff drivers, Larson finished 12th, followed by Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez, Bell and Logano rounding out the top 15.

Hendrick’s Alex Bowman was 18th, followed – in order — by teammate Elliott and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr.

JGR’s Ty Gibbs was 22nd, followed immediately by his teammate Hamlin and Wood Brothers’ Harrison Burton. Keselowski was 26th and Reddick 27th. Byron ended up 34th and Blaney was 38th, the first car out.

Those results mean that with one race left in this opening three-race Playoff round, Bell holds a three-point edge on Cindric atop the standings with Bowman five points back. Logano’s win at Atlanta two weeks ago scored him an automatic bid into the next round.

Heading into Saturday night’s first round elimination race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Hamlin is now ranked 13th, six points below his JGR teammate Gibbs on the cutoff line. Keselowski is 12 points back, Truex is now 14 points back and Burton is 20 points off the transfer position.

“I thought our Camry was solid, needed to be better on long runs for sure, but worked hard and persevered and had a decent day, but as always you get the cautions at the end and guys just run through you,” said a frustrated but determined Truex, who ran up front early and was – at one point – more than a dozen points above the cutoff line.

“It’s just crazy all these races always come down to this, and I don’t really understand how guys can call themselves the best in the world when they just drive through everyone on restarts at the end of these races,” Truex added. “It’s very frustrating, but it is what it is these days.”

The NASCAR Cup Series will conclude a triple-header race weekend at the famed Bristol high-banks with Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race (7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). Denny Hamlin is the defending winner.

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RFK Racing expected to add third Cup entry, sign Ryan Preece in 2025

RFK Racing is expected to add a third NASCAR Cup Series entry and sign Ryan Preece in 2025. Check out the latest details on RFK Racing!

[autotag]RFK Racing[/autotag] was linked to Kroger a few weeks ago in a move that would drastically change the outlook of its race team. Kroger is one of NASCAR’s biggest sponsors and currently resides with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at JTG Daugherty Racing. However, the company is likely on its way to RFK Racing, and the move will bring more than just sponsorship.

According to The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi, RFK Racing is progressing toward a third full-time Cup Series entry, which would be driven by current Stewart-Haas Racing driver Ryan Preece. RFK Racing co-owner Brad Keselowski is expected to make the move official in the coming weeks. It’s unclear whether the NASCAR team will buy or lease a charter.

Preece is the lone Stewart-Haas Racing driver in the Cup Series without a ride for the 2025 season, and RFK Racing would be the best outcome. The team only placed Keselowski in the NASCAR playoffs, but Chris Buescher has been fast all year. Kroger is likely going to change the outlook of RFK Racing and Preece’s career in NASCAR.

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RFK Racing addresses possibility of running third NASCAR Cup car in 2025

RFK Racing addresses the possibility of running a third NASCAR Cup Series car in 2025. Could RFK Racing expand for the 2025 season?

[autotag]RFK Racing[/autotag] had a successful 2024 NASCAR regular season despite Chris Buescher missing the Cup Series playoffs. Brad Keselowski won at Darlington Raceway earlier in the year, and Buescher finished 11th in the point standings. However, is RFK Racing ready to add a third car to its lineup in 2025? It could be a possibility sooner rather than later.

According to RFK Racing co-owner Brad Keselowski, through FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass, he hopes RFK Racing will be ready to add a third car “soon” and didn’t rule out the idea of running it unchartered. Rumors of RFK Racing adding a third car have grown from the report that Kroger could move to the NASCAR team for the 2025 season and beyond.

If so, RFK Racing would be gaining one of NASCAR’s biggest sponsors, which could allow the team to open a third entry. In 2024, RFK Racing has run the No. 60 Cup car in select races, but it hasn’t been a massive effort. If the opportunity presents itself, RFK Racing could have a full-time effort for the No. 60 car in 2025.

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RFK Racing connected to major NASCAR sponsor for 2025 season

RFK Racing has been connected to a major NASCAR sponsor for the 2025 season. Which NASCAR sponsor could join RFK Racing?

[autotag]RFK Racing[/autotag]’s rise with Brad Keselowski in the NASCAR Cup Series has been superb. The NASCAR team struggled in 2022 but turned it around near the end of the year. Since the start of 2023, RFK Racing has run well, leading to talks of Keselowski and Buescher having deep playoff runs. Now, the organization is linked to a significant sponsor for the 2025 NASCAR season.

According to Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern, RFK Racing has been tipped as the likely landing spot for Kroger, which seems to be leaving JTG Daugherty Racing at the conclusion of the 2024 NASCAR season. This would be a massive addition for RFK Racing, which would gain one of the sport’s most heavily invested sponsors.

Kroger would join Fastenal and several other major sponsors at RFK Racing and could give the NASCAR team enough flexibility to acquire another charter. The hope for RFK Racing is that it closes the deal with Kroger, as it would greatly benefit the organization. A new era for RFK Racing could be on the way with the possibility of a new sponsor and driver.

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RFK Racing linked to surprising NASCAR Cup Series driver for 2025

RFK Racing has been linked to a surprising NASCAR Cup Series driver for 2025. Which NASCAR driver could RFK Racing sign next year?

[autotag]RFK Racing[/autotag] has improved ever since Brad Keselowski joined the race team at the start of the NextGen car era. Keselowski and Chris Buescher have both entered victory lane and have multiple victories over the last 36 races. However, could RFK Racing bring on another driver? According to a recent report, the NASCAR team might need to find a driver for a third car.

Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern mentioned Ryan Preece when talking about the possibility of RFK Racing expanding to a third car for the 2025 NASCAR season. Preece currently drives for Stewart-Haas Racing and remains the only Cup Series driver for the organization not to have a home secured next season.

The NASCAR organization only has two charters and would need to acquire another charter. Rick Ware Racing could be a potential option as they have a technical alliance with RFK Racing. With only one full-time driver, Rick Ware Racing could lease the charter. There will be plenty of movement over the next few months, and it might include RFK Racing.

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Clock ticking for RFK to get both cars locked into Cup playoffs

The calendar is working against Brad Keselowski. “I think my goal that we set was to have it done by the middle of June – to have both cars locked into the playoffs,” Keselowski said at Iowa Speedway. “So, there’s still time.” Not exactly. While …

The calendar is working against Brad Keselowski.

“I think my goal that we set was to have it done by the middle of June – to have both cars locked into the playoffs,” Keselowski said at Iowa Speedway. “So, there’s still time.”

Not exactly. While there is still time to lock both cars into the playoffs, there’s not as much as Keselowski thought. Friday was June 14th, which took him by surprise. He was off on the date by a few days, thinking it was still early in the month.

“That’s less than I thought,” he laughed. “But we’re really happy with how competitive the cars are, how well the teams are clicking, and there is some happenstance involved in winning races and some performance. I think we have solid cars right now.

“Were we as fast as [Kyle Larson] last week? No, no, we weren’t. We weren’t anywhere close to that with either of our two cars, but I expect we’ll be very competitive over the next three weeks and have shots to compete for wins.”

There are divergent feelings within the two RKF Racing teams. Keselowski has a victory at Darlington and is locked into the postseason. It was his first since 2021 and first since aligning with Jack Roush.

“To some degree, I feel a little bit of personal weight off my shoulders,” Keselowski said. “But until we get both cars locked into the playoffs, we still have a big mountain to climb. Obviously, we’ve been very close to that with Chris [Buescher] and the No. 17 car with a number of second-place finishes and a really good run last week at Sonoma.

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“I’m eager to punch that through and have both cars locked in.”

The weight that left Keselowski landed on Buescher’s shoulders. The driver of RFK’s No. 17 is just above the playoff cutline by 32 points heading into Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350.

“It’s just a part of our sport,” Buescher said. “You reset those bags on your shoulders as soon as the year concludes in Phoenix, and you start all over again. We’ve been competitive to Brad’s point. One of the biggest goals I had going through the offseason was, ‘How do we make sure the first eight races are way more competitive than where we were last season?’”

In hindsight, Buescher & Co. gave up a lot of time going through that, but their ceiling is much higher now. He came up short in a few races in heartbreaking fashion, which, had they gone differently, could have been potential victories. There was contact with Tyler Reddick inside 10 laps to go at Darlington Raceway while he led, and he was on the losing end of NASCAR’s closest ever finish at Kansas Speedway.

Buescher described some of his chances at victory as being close but ending in “some catastrophic ways.” He has three top-three finishes on the year.

“We’ve got to capitalize and conclude one of these things,” Buescher said. “The bigger goal at the start of the season was how…we make sure that we’re locked in with a chance to win a championship [and] not just participate. We’re in a good spot, but we’re not in a great spot yet. We’ve got to go through these next handful of races and make all the pieces fit together and click right and, certainly, there has been some frustration on a lot of parts of it. But we’re doing our best to not let that continuously build up and get worse.”

Bold strategy call helps Buescher to a strong podium at Sonoma

Chris Buescher and RFK Racing made an unlikely strategy work to their advantage for a podium finish at Sonoma Raceway. Buescher finished third in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 after winning the second stage and making one pit stop in the final stage. The …

Chris Buescher and RFK Racing made an unlikely strategy work to their advantage for a podium finish at Sonoma Raceway.

Buescher finished third in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 after winning the second stage and making one pit stop in the final stage. The stop came on lap 68 and the No. 17 Ford Mustang Dark Horse cycled back to the lead when others gave up their track position to pit deeper in.

Ultimately, it wasn’t the winning call, as Buescher couldn’t hold off Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson. He lost the top spot with nine laps to go as both Truex and Larson went by.

Things swung RFK’s way again on the final lap. Buescher was running fourth, managing his tires, when Truex ran out of fuel. Larson, McDowell, and Buescher passed the coasting Truex to make up Sunday’s top three finishers.

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“It was a really good strategy on the day and an awesome finish,” Buescher said. “I wasn’t quite able to hold the lead there and that bums me out. I was trying. I’ve got to be better and ultimately figure out how to make that last a little bit longer, but our team did a really nice job. To start where we did and finish right here at the front with our BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang, I’m really proud of that. Just another close one at the end of the day.”

Sunday was Buescher’s first top-10 finish in over a month (Kansas Speedway). It was also the most laps he’s led in a single Sonoma race in his career.

“Ultimately, we started deep in the field, and it was going to be hard to make it work, but Scott (Graves, crew chief) and our group did a fantastic job,” Buescher said. “They played it well and got us up front. We got a stage win, a playoff point, but ultimately there at the end I wasn’t able to hold on. If that was just a little bit of tire difference late in the run or how hard I ran at the beginning, I’m not sure. It’s just a really solid day considering where we started. That’s a ton of positions gained on the day and really, really good.”

Early end to Coca-Cola 600 especially frustrating for Keselowski

Everyone wanted the Coca-Cola 600 to go the distance, but no one more than Brad Keselowski. “It’s pretty disappointing,” Keselowski said of his second-place finish in the weather-shortened race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “I felt like we had a car …

Everyone wanted the Coca-Cola 600 to go the distance, but no one more than Brad Keselowski.

“It’s pretty disappointing,” Keselowski said of his second-place finish in the weather-shortened race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “I felt like we had a car to win the race. We kind of ran down the 20 car [Christopher Bell] twice and just didn’t get to see it play out. So, it kind of slipped through our fingers there. I would have liked to have just had more laps and ran the Coke 600.”

Keselowski was scored second to Bell when the final caution flew on lap 245 for rain. It quickly escalated to a red flag for lightning and then a severe thunderstorm moved into the area. NASCAR declared the race official about two hours later.

“But all in all, I’m really happy with our performance,” Keselowski said. “The car was really fast. Our pit stops were phenomenal. We just didn’t get to see it through. I’m bummed for our team. I’m bummed for everybody, but the weather is what the weather is.”

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The RFK Racing driver started the night in 30th position. But by the end of the first stage, through speed and pit cycles, Keselowski was eighth. He was fifth at the end of the second stage.

As weather approached the area, the third stage came down to what ended up being the final pit stop under a lap 229 caution. Keselowski came off pit road second to Bell and restarted on the outside of the front row. But Bell dispatched the field and Keselowski missed his opportunity to be in the right place at the right time when weather ended the night.

Keselowski thought he had something for Bell…right before the conditions brought an end to the race. Motorsport Images

“I think everybody knew the situation,” Keselowski said. “I can’t claim ignorance to that. We were going as hard as we could. I feel like I needed another 10 laps or so to be able to make a pass, but that’s not how it played out.”

The effort was Keselowski’s second consecutive top-two finish on an intermediate track. Keselowski won the series’ most recent points race on an intermediate — Darlington Raceway — and was 11th at Kansas Speedway in the race prior. Between Kansas, Darlington and Charlotte, Keselowski combined for 39 laps led.

“It was good to be that fast,” he said. “You want to make it count with wins. You don’t want to be a sore loser for second, but it stings because I know we had a car to win today and if it doesn’t hurt, you’re in the wrong business. We’ve got a lot of work to do on our short track program and our road course program, but our mile-and-a-half stuff seems really good right now.”