No team could've been happier about the announcement of a new NASCAR Cup Series championship format than RFK Racing, as they've placed at least two cars in the top 16 in points -- but haven't had two cars make the Chase since 2023.
CONCORD, N.C. -- No team could've been happier about the announcement of a new NASCAR Cup Series championship format than RFK Racing.
Outside of the three biggest teams (Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske, Joe Gibbs Racing), Jack Roush and Brad Keselowski have molded RFK Racing into one of the most consistent operations in the series -- as exemplified by arguably their flagship driver, Chris Buescher.
© Jim Dedmon | 2025 Apr 6 In the last three seasons, Buescher has ranked sixth, seventh and second of the entire series in terms of average finish. As far as top-10 finishes, he has ranked seventh, ninth and sixth of the entire series.
However, Buescher hasn't made the Chase since 2023. No coincidence, that was the last time he won in the regular season.
In 2023, Buescher won three times in the regular season to cover himself from drivers getting their first win late in the regular season and knocking him out -- a problem that pushed him out of the Chase in 2024 and 2025.
Now, in 2026, the format is changing to reward consistency. The top 16 drivers in points get in, end of.
© Jim Dedmon | 2025 Aug 31 Buescher has ranked in the top 16 at the end of the regular season every year since 2023 (sixth in 2023, 11th in 2024, 10th in 2025).
In each year, Buescher has had a teammate join him in the top 16. In the first two years, it was Brad Keselowski (fifth in 2023, eighth in 2024).
However, 2025 saw Ryan Preece join Buescher in the top 16 at regular season's end.
© Mark J. Rebilas | 2025 Nov 2 Preece may go down as one of the most underrated drivers of 2025. He scored three top-five finishes and 14 top-10 finishes, led 133 laps, won a pole and had a career-best average finish of 15.7.
Preece's crowning moment was underrated, as well. As William Byron and Ryan Blaney dueled to see who would make the Championship 4, Preece ran lap times faster than the duo and may have had a chance at the win, if not for a late-race caution.
Ultimately, Preece finished the season with four top-10s in the final five races, while the boss Brad Keselowski nearly brought a win home to the team in the finale.
© Mark J. Rebilas | 2025 Nov 2 In 2026, Keselowski is entering his 17th season in the series -- but that doesn't mean he's slowing down. The near-win at Phoenix and other near-wins at places like Bristol in September and Iowa in the summer show there's still some magic left in the tank from the firestorm start to his career.
Keselowski's misstep in 2025 was a slow start to the season. After 12 races, he ranked 33rd in points and hadn't scored a top-10 finish all season -- whether by poor performance or some sort of misstep, like a tire failure while running second in the 12th race of the season at Kansas Speedway.
While Keselowski has said before that adding a third team benefitted the organization, the hiccups were apparent before the benefits became clear. Without the Chase, Keselowski would've rebounded from 33rd to 16th in the final standings -- aided by five top-10s in the final eight races.
© Jamie Harms | 2025 Mar 2 To RFK's benefit, almost every Cup organization retained their 2025 lineup and Chevrolet has a new body with minimal notes on it. Ending 2025 will bode well for starting 2026 and there is a chance RFK could snag a win early on.
The superspeedways mean anything goes but both Keselowski and Buescher have run very well -- almost winning at Atlanta in the summer.
Once the true season starts at Circuit of the Americas, Buescher is one of the best road course racers in the series.
While Phoenix is somewhat of a lull, the stretch of Las Vegas-Darlington-Martinsville-Bristol-Kansas-Talladega-Texas-Watkins Glen-Charlotte brings out some tracks the team has run very well at and is a great time for them to build up momentum.
Soon after that are Michigan, Pocono, San Diego, Sonoma, Chicago and Atlanta, which RFK has to have circled after previous runs saw them rise above the heap.
If RFK can start 2026 strong, expect all three drivers to win a race and get into the Chase.
While RFK still has work to do to compete for the Bill France Cup when the Chase begins in the fall, just making the Chase and getting their flowers (and a lot of money) will go a long way toward seeing them compete for the Cup in the not-too-distant future.