RFK Racing aims higher with expansion to three cars

12/06/2024 04:10 PM

RFK Racing will take the next step in its evolution by expanding to three full-time NASCAR Cup Series entries in 2025.

It will be a pivotal season. Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher will be joined by Ryan Preece, and expectations are high for all three teams. Keselowski, also a co-owner of the organization, might be bullish about the future but also understands that going into its fourth season, another step forward needs to be taken.

"We want to win races. We want to win more races," Keselowski said. "We've won six point-paying races over the last three seasons, and we want to be able to do that in one season. That would be a good mark for us."

The current iteration of RFK Racing began when Keselowski joined forces with Jack Roush in 2022. Keselowski did not win a race in his first two seasons driving the No. 6 Ford.

However, Buescher went to victory lane at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2022 and then won three races in 2023 at Richmond Raceway, Michigan International Speedway and Daytona International Speedway. The roles reversed in 2024 as Keselowski finally broke through at Darlington Raceway (after the misfortune of Buescher having contact with Tyler Reddick inside the final laps) while Buescher went winless. A few opportunities slipped through the fingers of the No. 17 team.

Neither driver made the postseason in 2022. Both earned berths in 2023 and Keselowski represented the organization in the 2024 edition.

"We want to put all of our cars in the playoffs," Keselowski emphasized.

Preece joins the line-up from Stewart-Haas Racing. The 2025 season will be his sixth full season at the Cup Series level and Preece is still looking for his first career win — and subsequent playoff berth.

"There are some measurables," Keselowski said of the year ahead. "But ultimately, we want to be in the conversation with one of our cars and hopefully more than one of our cars on any given race weekend to be able to win. We have shown a lot of progress there, and this is the next step to be more consistent."

When Buescher won in 2022, it was the first win for a Roush car since 2017. The organization has eight points wins over the last 10 seasons.

Keselowski is the 2012 series champion. A Roush car has not won the Cup Series championship since 2004 with Kurt Busch. But the good news is that Keselowski believes that the success they are chasing feels closer than further away.

"There's a lot of challenges, no doubt," he said. "But we just continue to improve as an organization."