As the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series regular season winds down, RFK Racing is caught in a high-stakes, all-in-the-family showdown for playoff survival. Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski, and Ryan Preece, all behind the wheel of RFK Fords, are staring down the same brutal truth: win, and you’re in. Buescher has the edge, sitting just above the playoff cutline with steady top-10 runs at tracks like Dover, Gateway, and Pocono. But even his spot is shaky with three races left, especially as more drivers snag wins.
Keselowski and Preece, meanwhile, are below the line, making their fight urgent. Keselowski has had heartbreaking near-misses, such as a second-place finish at Chicago’s street race and a top five in Nashville. Preece has turned heads with a top-10 at Richmond in the part-time No. 60. It is do-or-die time, and Iowa Speedway’s short track could be the make-or-break moment.
The wildest part is that RFK’s biggest competition might be each other. With all three drivers still in the hunt, strategy calls could tip the scales, especially at places like Iowa or Daytona, where teamwork on pit road or drafting can change everything. Keselowski has been upfront about the delicate balance between helping the team and fighting for yourself, and it is clear this internal tug-of-war has everyone on edge.
One win locks in a playoff spot. If none of them pull it off, RFK could be watching the postseason from the sidelines. Brad Keselowski, the team’s star driver and co-owner, did not shy away from diving into this playoff dilemma at Iowa. He has a plan to navigate the chaos and is not afraid to speak his mind about NASCAR’s bigger picture, either. He gives props where they are due and calls out what needs fixing.
Keselowski’s playoff plan
Before the Iowa race, Keselowski laid it out plainly, “Yeah, I mean the crew teams have the ultimate level of autonomy at RFK to be able to make the calls that they feel are best for their team. But it’s really like, be smart at it from a company perspective. Right now, where we’re at, you know, seemingly at least two or three teams need to win a race to get in, but we’re very competitive, so you know that there’s a realistic potential to do that. So, you know, strategy could be the maker or breaker of that. And to your point, there’s never seemingly an opportunity or not seemingly an opportunity to use strategy in NASCAR nowadays at all the tracks.”
RFK’s structure, with each team (Nos. 6, 17, and 60) calling its own shots, keeps things flexible but also tricky. Keselowski knows Buescher is the safest, sitting 42 points above the cutline, but he and Preece need a win to punch their ticket. His No. 6 showed serious speed at EchoPark, leading 46 laps before finishing second, and Iowa’s short track plays to his strengths. Strategy — like bold pit calls or drafting help — could be the difference, but he is clear it is about smart moves, not reckless gambles.
He emphasized the balancing act, “You know, we can try to push those things from time to time. But the ultimate reality is you can’t tell somebody to take a low percentage shot and ruin their day just so you feel better about it. So, it’s just about a balancing act.”
Keselowski has been here before. His fifth-place run at Charlotte showed he can push hard without wrecking, but a risky call at Pocono cost him a shot at the win when he stayed out too long and got trapped by a caution. With Buescher and Preece also in the mix, RFK has to weigh team goals against individual glory. Keselowski is not about to ask a teammate to tank their race for him, but he is banking on RFK’s recent momentum —six top 10s in their last 10 races combined — to carry at least one of them to victory lane.
Keselowski’s multitasking hustle
Brad Keselowski is not just a driver. He is a jack-of-all-trades at RFK Racing. As co-owner alongside Jack Roush and John W. Henry, he is wrenching on cars, handling administrative work, buying equipment, and basically doing whatever the team needs. He is also not shy about speaking his mind, whether it is critiquing NASCAR or giving them a nod when they get it right. Case in point: NASCAR’s recent push to hire one of 11 marketing agencies to boost the sport’s image, as reported by Ad Age.
Would Brad Keselowski consider having one of his teammates do a different strategy in hopes that would give RFK a better chance of getting at least one driver in the playoffs with a win? You would see it in other racing series. pic.twitter.com/6yk6YsZyo0
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 3, 2025
Keselowski supports it, saying at Iowa, “I think they’re doing a lot of things that were sorely needed a decade ago and we’re kind of at least heeding those lessons. I look at the driver ambassador program, look at some of the marketing initiatives they’ve brought in and they’re star-power oriented. I think it’s exactly what the sport needed. The sport has to be realistic with itself that it went a decade or so of really weak marketing efforts. You’re not just going to recover from that overnight, but they’re doing the right things, I think now, to put the sport into a growth trajectory and that’s exciting to me.”
Keselowski has been front and center in NASCAR’s marketing push. He starred in a video with Kyle Busch that fans loved and praised a slick three-minute promo for 2026’s San Diego street race. But he is blunt about the timing, “It’s more than that, it’s engaging in all kinds of different mediums that are bigger or broader than commercials and promotions. I think we’re seeing a lot of that happen in ways and certainly with a velocity we didn’t see in the last decade or so.” His hustle as a driver, owner, and NASCAR advocate shows he is fully committed to RFK’s playoff push and the sport’s future, even if it means juggling a million roles while chasing that elusive Iowa win.
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