Did You Notice? … 11 races through the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, RFK Racing has become the fastest Ford team in the sport?
That’s right. I’m talking about an RFK organization in just its second season with driver/co-owner Brad Keselowski at the helm. It’s the same team that started off its rebrand in a tussle with NASCAR over confiscated wheels at the Daytona 500, then was handed a killer 100-point penalty in March for illegal modifications after Atlanta Motor Speedway that all but kicked Keselowski’s No. 6 into win-or-miss-the-playoffs mode.
It’s a mission it never accomplished during a miserable 2022, par for the course for cars co-owned by Jack Roush over the past decade-plus. But something happened in the shadows of the Cup Series as that regular season came to a close.
RFK got fast.
Chris Buescher posted four of his 10 top-10 finishes in his final 13 starts, peaking during the playoffs with an upset win at Bristol Motor Speedway. Buescher led 169 laps during that event while teammate Keselowski tacked on another 109, in position to win himself until a tire issue cost him valuable track position during the final stage.
Overall, it wasn’t like either team lit itself on fire; both actually wound up with negative position differential during the 10 playoff races. Buescher maintained his spot in the standings (21st) while Keselowski jumped four spots to 24th, still his first miss in the elimination-style playoff format and worst season overall since 2010.
But the foundation was laid, followed by an offseason when leadership on both the Nos. 6 and 17 teams remained stable. RFK came out of the box strong, combining to lead 74 laps during February’s season-opening Daytona 500. Buescher went on to finish fourth, his third top-five result in the Great American Race during the last six years.
Since then? Both teams haven’t looked back. Keselowski sits ninth in points with two top-five and five top-10 finishes; that’s one short the number of top-10 results he had in all of 2022. Buescher is close behind, sitting 12th after back-to-back top 10s for each driver at Talladega Superspeedway and Dover Motor Speedway.
It’s the first time two Roush-owned teams have posted back-to-back top 10s since 2013, when Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle were both still racing for the team. You have to go back to 2014 for the last time Roush had two drivers qualify for the playoffs under the current format.
But what makes…
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