On the eve of the NASCAR Cup Series season finale, team co-owner and driver Brad Keselowski held court in the Phoenix Raceway media center to size up the 2025 campaign for his RFK Racing operation.
“A handful of seconds,” Keselowski said in summation, “so just need to convert those into wins going forward.”
One day later, that handful got just a little fuller. Keselowski had stayed on track on older tires for an overtime restart in the year-ending race, but the upper hand he gained in track position went away in the final set of corners. Fellow Ford driver Ryan Blaney slipped by for the victory, leaving Keselowski’s No. 6 Mustang half a car-length back as the runner-up for the third time in the season.
RELATED: 2026 NASCAR schedule | Final 2025 Cup Series standings
“It’s kind of the story of our season,” Keselowski said post-race. “We’re just needing a little bit of speed, trying to put ourselves in position. We were in position as well as we could, I just wasn’t quite fast enough. Another second place.”
The 2025 campaign represented growth and change for the organization in its fourth season under the Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing banner, if not the same level of on-track success that recent years had produced. RFK expanded to three full-time teams for the first time since 2016, adding the No. 60 Ford for Ryan Preece alongside the incumbents in Keselowski and Chris Buescher in the No. 17 ride. RFK officials also announced in September that Chip Bowers would become the new team president, replacing longtime executive Steve Newmark.
Both Keselowski and Buescher won races in 2024, and the two drivers went 2-for-2 in reaching the Cup Series Playoffs the year before that. This season, the new-look RFK Racing outfit went winless and was 0-for-3 with its postseason aspirations.
“It takes one extra step to truly be in contention, to fight to win more of them,” Buescher said during Phoenix weekend. “We had a good handful that we had a good shot at, and just didn’t seal the deal at the end of the day. So, definitely missed opportunities, a little bit of rough luck along the way, which anybody in here would say the same thing. So it’s just a good year without being stellar.”
Keselowski dismissed the notion that expansion may have stretched the team too thin performance-wise. Though Keselowski’s average finish dipped (from 15.6 to 18.5), his and Buescher’s other statistics and metrics were comparable to numbers from previous seasons. Buescher improved to a career-best average start of 12.5, and Preece enjoyed the best of his six full seasons at the Cup Series level — all with a team that was only a rarely used part-time effort a year ago.
“Actually, it’s been really good, adding a third team. It’s helped us in a lot of ways,” Keselowski said. “Hardly any area I would say it’s hurt us at all, so it’s been terrific. Ryan Preece has done a great job. To see that team take off and kind of grow its wings so quickly, it’s been very rewarding.”
Preece said that when RFK’s playoff goals weren’t met, the final 10 races of the season could have been a write-off. Instead, he said that the organization redoubled its efforts on closing strong, creating momentum for 2026.
MORE: 2025 season, by the numbers | Watch NASCAR video highlights
Keselowski found some of that stride with four top-10 finishes in the final six races, and Preece followed suit with four top 10s in the final five events. Those measures included a shift in Preece’s approach — away from feeling like he needed to micro-manage all of the team’s aspects as an unofficial crew chief and instead directing his focus toward maximizing what he could do in his role as a driver, trusting in the rest of the team’s processes.
“So a change in mindset was probably a big piece of that, as well as coming over to RFK and seeing what Brad’s been able to help build and continue to build back up of what we can be,” Preece said. “We’re all frustrated we didn’t make the playoffs, but there’s a ton of potential between all three of us, and I’m excited for that. For me, it was probably a change in mindset as well as a great group of people that came together and are working on accomplishing the goal.”
Besides momentum, the group also built camaraderie. Buescher and Preece participated in an escalating series of pranks on each other as the season wound down, with rental cars being towed, cinched in plastic wrap and doors removed. The two also unwittingly dressed up as each other for Halloween.
The development was met with amusement from Keselowski, who said he felt no need to intervene. The 41-year-old team leader did caution, however, to best leave him out of the practical jokes.
“Buyer beware,” Keselowski warned. “Yeah, anybody that comes for me better not miss.”