Brad Keselowski isn’t shy about his goals as the newest driver-owner in the Nascar Cup Series.
Keselowski, 37, is now the co-owner of what is now RFK Racing. The 2012 Nascar Cup Series champion purchased a stake in Roush Fenway Racing, determined to turn around a team that hasn’t won a race in Nascar’s premier division since 2017. It hasn’t won a race on a non-superspeedway dating back to 2014.
“I’m telling you, it’s the biggest year of my life,” Keselowski said. “It’s a big gamble, as I like to call it. It’s a watershed moment for me in the sense of taking on a larger role and responsibility than I ever have. It’ll be a year of pursuing self-growth accordingly. I feel really good about it.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, and we’re putting in the effort to improve the company and the race teams accordingly. I think we have some stuff that will show just that with good results.”
Keselowski, known for his methodical analysis of the sport, believes there are several moving pieces that led him to depart Team Penske in order to take up an ownership opportunity with a different Ford Performance team.
A key part to Keselowski’s “gamble” is his belief that Nascar will capitalize greatly on its next media rights package as its contracts with both Fox Sports and NBC Sports expire at the end of 2024, making team ownership quite attractive. He believes the new TV rights deal will help not only Nascar cash in, but also the teams themselves.
“With respect to the Nascar Next Gen car and the upcoming media rights, we think it will be a watershed for the sport,” Keselowski said. “It will drive the value of the sport and its teams considerably higher over the next decade.”
Keselowski is getting in on the front end of the media rights deal, he believes, and partnering with Nascar legend Jack Roush and the Fenway Sports Group only increases his chances of success.
Additionally, the Next Gen car is debuting in 2022, starting with the Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Keselowski has already tested his brand-new No. 6 car, reviving a number font similar to the one used by Nascar Hall of Famer Mark Martin, and has shown plenty of speed prior to the start of the season.
“Back to the stock analogy of buy low, sell high – even though I don’t plan on selling – what was formerly Roush Fenway and is now RFK was in a bad spot, where they needed someone to come in with the pedigree and credentials to turn the company around and lend credence to their initiatives,” Keselowski said.
“However, they were also in a really good spot with locked in charters and high-quality sponsors and committed owners. I could walk in the door and reasonably feel like I could make a difference and turn things around. It’s a really unique opportunity with a lot of different intersecting components that made it very attractive to me.”
Keselowski, though, isn’t in this for the money. He wants to have a post-driving career that keeps him involved in the sport. At the end of the day, his fingerprints will be traced to the culture he creates within RFK Racing, which he hopes will one day lead him to be as successful as Roush or Roger Penske.
With this new challenge, Keselowski will be using specific lessons he learned from Penske, ones he believes will create a pedigree of winning.
“It’s going to take a lot for the student to beat the master, I’ll tell you that,” Keselowski said. “The biggest lesson is always the same, and that’s the importance of culture and people. Everyday and every way you act is effectively your brand. You can build a brand in decades that you can turn down in an hour. Getting that right is really difficult.”
Keselowski’s new journey will not be an easy one. Roush Fenway Racing’s cars finished 19th and 28th in the 2021 driver standings, with Chris Buescher and Ryan Newman, respectively. The new co-owner replaces Newman behind the wheel in 2022, as Buescher will continue to pilot the No. 17 car.
Keselowski is determined to bring the Ford-backed team back to the top. Keselowski has finished outside of the top eight in the championship standings only twice since 2011, earning 34 wins with Team Penske.
“It’s going to take a lot of work, a lot of attention to detail and it’s really that simple,” Keselowski said.
The team’s past struggles, Keselowski explained, don’t matter. They are in the past, and the future is bright for this two-car entity.
“A number of the reasons I think [the team] wasn’t successful, though, interestingly enough, are not relevant to the future,” Keselowski said. “The Next Gen car and some of the matters it addresses lend itself well to our company as we grow together.”
Thus far, throughout the handful of test sessions and long hours at the shop, Keselowski is being challenged more than ever. He’s learning the ins and outs of an organization that’s been part of Nascar since 1988, and one he plans to be part of for decades to come.
As Keselowski and RFK Racing prepare for a season of unknowns, the team is confident it will bring glory back to 4600 Roush Place in Concord, N.C.
The team has key partners returning as primary sponsors, including Fastenal, Castrol, and Kohler Generators. Violet Defense also signed a multi-year deal to sponsor the team, as well, with additional partners likely to be announced throughout the year.
But one thing Keselowski wants people to know is his departure from Team Penske is not a divorce. Rather, it is bittersweet, as he acknowledges that he would not be in position to become a team owner in Nascar if it weren’t for Penske himself.
Keselowski said, “There should be some pride that [Penske] has, as the master, in seeing me have this opportunity and hopefully being successful. No way would I be ready for this opportunity without the things I’ve learned from him.”
RFK Racing will be part of the final Next Gen test this week at Phoenix Raceway. Then, the next time out will be in Los Angeles for practice ahead of the Busch Light Clash.
