RFK Racing: Step One, Become Relevant—Achievement Unlocked!

• Brad Keselowski bought part ownership of Roush Fenway Racing last year, with the team becoming RFK Racing.

• Chris Buescher’s win at Richmond on Sunday gave RFK Racing a guaranteed spot in the playoffs.

• The team hasn’t been in NASCAR’s Cup Series playoffs since 2019.

When Brad Keselowski became part owner of Roush Fenway Racing in 2022 and RFK Racing was born, the Michigan native had a two-step plan—move the Concord, North Carolina-based organization from irrelevant to relevant and then to contender.

With Chris Buescher’s victory last September at Bristol and the two combining for 10 top-10 finishes and 418 laps led in the 2022 season, Keselowski felt the organization started 2023 in the relevant stage.

Now, with Buescher’s Sunday victory in the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway solidifying RFK Racing in the playoffs and Keselowski with an opportunity to make the post-season as well, it appears the 2012 NASCAR Cup champion’s team may very well possess the “contender” title before season’s end.

“I knew making this move that I was gonna have to be the best I could be, but also make other people better,” Keselowski says. “That’s not a light switch as much as I want it to be and as much as our whole team wants it to be. It’s a daily grind of small, sometimes not even perceivable improvements. We’re making those. We still have a lot more to make. I’m proud to see other people grow.

“You ride the roller-coaster up and you ride it down and … you’ve got to enjoy the good times, but when it comes to bad times, some of them are to be expected.”

In Sunday’s race, the RFK Racing Fords were the event’s top lap leaders with Keselowski leading twice for 102 of the 400 laps and Buescher setting the pace on three occasions for 88 laps. The RFK Racing duo produced the same type of performance in the season opening Daytona 500, leading a total of 74 laps.

Keselowski was the event’s top lap leader with 42, while Buescher led 32. Unlike Sunday’s race where the RFK Racing teammates finished in the top 10, Buescher eventually finished fourth in the Daytona 500 while Keselowski had to settle for 22nd due to his involvement in an accident.

Overall, this year the two have led a total of 415 laps while producing a combined total of eight top-five and 18 top-10 finishes in 22 races.

“RFK has made some massive leaps,” Buescher says. “We’ve been in a good spot the last 18 months. We’ve been very competitive at a lot of different styles of race tracks. We’ve been capable of running fifth. Not capable of fighting for wins, as many as we had hoped. We’ve been close at several (tracks). Both our cars have this speed at different tracks.”

Buescher noted the Richmond race had been circled on the team’s calendar since last fall.

“I was really hopeful this could be the one that would turn the page for us,” Buescher says.

It appears that’s the case for the organization that hasn’t been in NASCAR’s Cup Series playoffs since 2019.

“It’s a big step forward,” Keselowski says. “I’m not … saying that we got everything we want and need to win every week. We’re progressing and we’re putting ourselves in position. It’s a good boost of confidence for us that we’re doing the right things.”

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