RFK Racing ‘has a shot’ at making Championship 4

Since Keselowski joined RFK as a co-owner beginning with the 2022 season, he brought immediate changes in team operations as well as new personnel.

Improved results on the track have been slower to achieve but took a big step forward last year when his teammate, Chris Buescher, won three times and advanced to the Round of 8 in the series playoffs.

Keselowski locked himself into this year’s playoffs by ending his 110-race winless streak with a victory at Darlington, S.C., earlier this season. While Buescher has yet to win this year, he has been in contention several times.

Both drivers appear well-positioned for the start of the 2024 playoffs, which begin at Atlanta in September.

“You know, 2022 was not a lot of fun but 2023 we absolutely made the most of it,” Keselowski said this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “Being back in 2024, it just kind of feels like a redemption ride to be a part of turning around the organization and to some degree my own career.

“When I did the deal at RFK, you hated to resign to losing a year or two of your career, but the reality is that you knew that was what it was going to be. Now we’re in the third season. I feel like we’re more competitive in some ways.

“More importantly, I feel like we’re a lot more prepared for the playoffs than we were last year. And I think we’ll have a better playoff run than we did last year.”

Steady improvement

Both Buescher and Keselowski advanced to the playoffs last year, with Buescher ending up seventh in the series standings and Keselowski eighth.

While the duo’s performance was the best the organization had seen in more than a decade, Keselowski believes even more is possible this season.

“I think we realistically have a shot at getting both cars in that Round of 8 and one of the cars in the championship round,” he said. “From there, who knows what’s going to happen?

“I’m excited about that progress and I’m just eager to see it through.”

With NASCAR’s return to the IMS oval this weekend for the first time since 2020, Keselowski is one of the few drivers in the field with a win on that configuration.

There are many unknowns in the race as the Next Gen cars have never run a race on the oval but have typically produced competitive racing on intermediate and high-speed ovals. Buscher will start 23rd on Sunday and Keselowski 26th.

“It’s not going to be an easy race. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of drama on pit road and with respect to how the cars will draft and how they’ll run nose to tail around the track and all those pieces,” Keselowski said.

“We’re still going to go back to some of those headaches, but I think we kind of learned that that’s not necessarily a bad thing. That’s part of what made Indy, Indy, right? And, so, it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out with tires and all those things along the line.

“It’s very meaningful to me to see it back. For me, winning this race and having your name on that ‘crown jewel’ list, is a really special feeling. It’s kind of a dream come true.”