The NASCAR Cup Series is exactly two months away from returning to the track, when the season-opening Clash exhibition marks the unofficial kickoff to the 2025 campaign. For Brad Keselowski, co-owner of the RFK Racing team, that intervening time will not pass quietly, not in what he characterizes as a “very busy offseason.”
The dawn of the new season marks the next phase in Keselowski’s vision for the Jack Roush-founded organization, which will grow from two Cup Series teams to three with the addition of driver Ryan Preece and a family of sponsors with Kroger. The 34-year-old joins a driver roster that includes Keselowski and Chris Buescher, who both won Cup events last season – the organization’s third under the RFK banner.
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Keselowski, 40, noted how the team jumped ahead after a stumble in the first year with the Next Gen car, putting both teams in the 16-driver playoff field in 2023. Last year, Keselowski broke a 110-race drought with his victory. at Darlington Raceway to celebrate his first win as a driver owner, but at the same time he had visions of what RFK’s evolution should look like. According to him, that meant expansion.
“From that moment on, it seemed like we realized this was the next step,” Keselowski said on Nov. 22, in the hours before the annual NASCAR Awards. “If you look at the way NASCAR is set up now, you need three teams. I think that’s why you see the Trackhouses and the 23XIs and all those guys aiming to be three teams, even Front Row. So there’s power in numbers, just the way the sport is organized, and how you can amortize the overhead and capture the most data. So it’s important for us to not only be financially viable, but also competitively viable to have three teams and maximize the opportunities on any given weekend. So it’s a natural next step for us to get us to the point where we can improve our performance.”
Enter Preece, who has roots as a Connecticut Modified ace and has spent the past two seasons with Stewart-Haas Racing on the Cup Series side. He takes over the No. 60 Ford and begins a new chapter with a car number that Keselowski says holds a special place in the Roush team’s legacy.
Preece has two wins in both the Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series, but was a bit of a journeyman in his five-plus Cup Series seasons. Keselowski said he began conversations with Preece in the spring and sees a lot of potential in his next phase.
“Talented, underrated, hardworking – you know, everything you could dream of, from a coachable player,” Keselowski said. “I think the ball is in our court to give him the right opportunities and equipment, and surround him with the right people to succeed next year.”
Keselowski said he was working hard to strengthen the No. 60 team’s crew chief for next season, but one piece of the human resources puzzle is already in place. RFK announced on November 21 that Jeremy Bullins will replace Matt McCall atop the pit box of the No. 6 Ford, breathing new life into the driver-crew combination. The two worked together at Team Penske from 2020 to 2021, reaching Championship 4 in their first campaign. Keselowski said there was a “joint interest” in reconnecting.
“Yes, years have passed, but there is still a friendship that never goes away,” Keselowski said of his renewed partnership with Bullins. “I am confident that we can learn from the years we have spent together and apply the lessons bilaterally.”
Until last May at Darlington, Keselowski’s most recent Cup Series victory was a Bullins-led effort. His revival to victory at one of NASCAR’s most demanding tracks was a special one, celebrated with his wife and daughters, who helped push the car out of Victory Lane after the confetti flew.
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The win was Keselowski’s first in more than three years and the first for the No. 6 car in nearly thirteen seasons, but feelings were running high with his loved ones close by to share in the joy.
“When I won Darlington there with my family, I mean, that was just … I still get chills when I think about it,” Keselowski said. “Once you become a father, one of the things that no one can really tell you – or at least they didn’t tell me or I didn’t listen – is the impact of your success and being able to see it through the eyes of your father. your own children and to know that it commands a certain level of respect and validation from them for years to come and hopefully their entire lives. As a father, you want your kids to think you’re a bad guy, and to see that actually happen is pretty cool.”
RFK Racing has recorded six Cup Series victories over the past three seasons since its relaunch. Pressed for measurable goals in the next phase of the organization, Keselowski says, “We want to be able to do that in one season. That would be a good figure for us.” Placing all of the team’s cars in the Cup Series Playoffs field is another ambition, fueled by the goal of being weekly contenders.
Building RFK’s strength through increased numbers and resources is Keselowski’s goal.
“If you don’t grow, you die in this sport, and we’re growing,” Keselowski said. “We are adding people, adding teams and making important investments. It’s an exciting time for me. You know, ’23 versus ’24 is very similar, but I like to say that ’25 should be a step forward for us.
