Brad Keselowski Calls Out Lack of Support After Gateway Meltdown

The season hasn’t worked out quite the way Brad Keselowski would have wanted. The RFK Racing co-owner/driver failed to make the playoffs for the first time in years and is currently on a 51-race winless streak in the Cup Series. While he’s fighting for nothing but pride at the moment, many expected the veteran racer to potentially snag a win at the World Wide Technology Raceway, but things didn’t go according to plan at the 1.25-mile oval.

When the checkered flag was waved, the Michigan-native looked visibly dejected after yet another disappointing outcome, despite running up front and leading laps late. However, older tires proved to be his undoing at the Enjoy Illinois 300.

Brad Keselowski considers Gateway a missed opportunity

Brad Keselowski has struggled for consistency this year. The veteran racer has secured four top-five finishes this year, including a runner-up finish at EchoPark Speedway. However, the 41-year-old hasn’t managed to keep up a high level of performance as often as he would’ve liked, ending up 15th or higher in the last three races. He qualified in 23rd place at Gateway, just behind Kyle Busch, and made quick progress in Stage 1, breaking into the top-20 before brushing the wall while avoiding a crash involving Josh Berry. But it all went downhill from there.

Speaking to Frontstretch’s Dalton Hopkins after the race, Brad Keselowski opened up about what went wrong, saying, “I wish we had some guys stay with us. You know, we had a couple of cars on the strategy. Might have worked out. Who knows? But we just didn’t get any help.” When asked if the strategy was “that you guys were going to come down before the caution came out,” the racer replied, “I don’t know. I think we were still trying. Well, we were going to have to, for fuel. But, outside of that, we just needed a little break that we didn’t catch.”

Lady Luck didn’t seem to be on Keselowski’s side at the World Wide Technology Raceway. When Josh Berry crashed after Chase Elliott’s contact on Lap 36, the No. 6 Ford veered to avoid being caught up in the crossfire, but the brush against the wall caused some minor damage and forced an extra pit stop. That forced the veteran racer to drop down to 31st place, despite steadily gaining track positions early on. Further, his Ford continued to struggle with tight handling.

The team stayed out for Stage 2 to gain track positions, and Brad Keselowski kept moving forward. A well-timed pit stop, followed by a strategic decision to stay out during caution, allowed the racer to take the lead late in the stage, and he eventually finished second behind Bubba Wallace, securing 9 points in the process. The fact that the racer could maintain his position while on older tires gave the No. 6 crew a feeling of optimism in the final 100 laps of the race.

After pitting, Keselowski restarted deep in the final stage and steadily climbed the grid once again. He managed to cycle to the front through fuel strategy and tire management and even took the lead with just 50 laps to go. He restarted in first place when the caution came out, but older tires proved to be his kryptonite as he couldn’t hold off the charge from behind. He didn’t even have the support from Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece to maintain his position, and eventually ended up 17th.

Chris Buescher focused on positives despite playoff miss

RFK Racing may not have made it to the playoffs, but to call Chris Buescher’s season a ‘disappointment’ would be an exaggeration. The No. 17 Ford Mustang driver ended the regular season 10th in points with four top fives and 13 top 10s, with an average finish of 14.1 after 26 races. Had the season not featured 14 different race winners during the regular campaign, there’s no reason why the 32-year-old wouldn’t have made it to the postseason.

Sharing his thoughts about his season, Buescher said, “You take away the fact that we missed the playoffs, it’s been a solid year. We’ve been fast. We’ve had a few runner-ups and been in contention to win a handful, and overall, our average finish is well on up there. So I mean, it’s been a great year. We’ve had speed at a lot of different styles of race tracks. Obviously, everyone’s aware and we’re proud of that, but ultimately it’s that final metric that you’ve gotta win to make the playoffs and be fighting for a championship at the end.”

While it’s well within the realm of possibility that Brad Keselowski’s side may end up winless this year, there are plenty of positives they can take from their performances. Even Ryan Preece said, “I feel like for a first-year team, we executed really well.” With eight races remaining before the season ends, RFK Racing could still turn its fortunes around to end the year strongly. But as Keselowski rightly said, “You could extend that to my teammates who’ve had similar situations where they’ve been close to winning and we weren’t able to convert. You have to convert.” Do you think one of the RFK Racing cars will enter Victory Lane this season? Let us know your comments!