“We have no idea what to expect,” Brad Keselowski said ahead of the 2025 Food City 500 race. In the previous iteration of the same race, the RFK Racing driver/owner had been at the forefront. Keselowski clinched third place after tackling a tire management race featuring over 54 lead changes. The tire falloff was unlike anything NASCAR had seen at Bristol. Yet, attempts to replicate that phenomenon led to confusion that persists until today.

Brad Keselowski could not crack the playoffs this year, clinching 8 top tens and 4 top fives. The No. 6 Ford driver started poorly but clinched top 20 finishes in the last two races. Ahead of the Bristol race, Keselowski improved his qualifying – yet doubts enshroud the upcoming race.

Brad Keselowski is tired of the uncertainty

When NASCAR injected the PJ1 track compound onto Bristol Motor Speedway’s surface in March 2024, nobody expected much. That move, coupled with the track’s conditions and weather, resulted in a thrilling tire wear race, which Denny Hamlin won. The reception of the race was so stunning that NASCAR immediately appointed Goodyear to work on a replication. Yet in the 2024 Bristol night race, Kyle Larson dominated the race, which had little to no tire falloff. In fact, the Hendrick Motorsports driver led for 873 of 1000 laps in the last two Bristol races, sweeping all three stages in both events. So Brad Keselowski does not know what to expect anymore, with Goodyear introducing softer-side tires for this Saturday.

When Bob Pockrass asked Brad Keselowski about the tire falloff in times during qualifying, the latter replied, “No, nothing significant.” The RFK driver qualified in 18th place, much better than the 32nd and 23rd qualifying spots in the last two weekends. He attributed that to a better tire grip, which was a surprise, but nothing is certain anymore in Goodyear’s ‘science experiment.’ Keselowski continued, “The tire held up really, really well today, but surprised by that. We’ll see tomorrow how it holds up. You know, tomorrow’s made different tests as he gets into the night. More cars on the track at one time. So, our weekly science experiment continues.” 

Brad Keselowski has a good history at Bristol Motor Speedway. He fetched three wins at the track while driving for Team Penske in 2011, 2012, and 2020. In this year’s April race, Keselowski led the RFK Racing trio of racers and finished in 16th place after overcoming handling challenges and chassis adjustments. Yet his opinion back then matches his opinion at present, and it reeks of confusion. Keselowski said in April, “We tested there last February. We saw the tire wear issues. We came back and had tire wear issues. We had another test there in the summer – same thing. We came back for the fall race, and it was great…It’s something you can’t really explain to people or understand until you see it.”

While Brad Keselowski grapples with his Bristol track troubles, other drivers are anticipating some drama, yet in a positive way.

Counting on Goodyear’s magic

As drivers prepare for the Round of 16 finale, officials prepare for another Goodyear experiment. The latter noted that weather changes were the primary reason for this weekend’s tire set-up. During the daytime race on April 13, high temperatures topped out in the 60s. This weekend, drivers will race in the evening. And as the sun sets, the green flag will wave after an afternoon with temps forecast to reach the low 80s. Yet even as Mark Keto, Goodyear Senior Project Manager for NASCAR, looks forward to more tire wear, drivers are just going with the flow.

Ross Chastain said that he has faith in Goodyear and will like whatever product Bristol presents to him. “I don’t think they want tire drama like we had a couple of years ago. At the end of the day, it all has to go through the tire to get to the track. I trust the folks at Goodyear to do what they do best. This is their wheelhouse, pun intended. I trust them to bring a good tire that’s going to work for me and be reliable, and also pay a penalty if I abuse it and it’s going to slow down later in the run. Whatever it is, we will learn from it. That’s why we have practice.”

Austin Dillon is also eager to get another thrilling night like the March 2024 race. He said, “When you talk about tires, that was an interesting race that we had there when the tires really wore. I don’t mind that. I think that’s a cool style of racing. I think they’ve kind of figured it out since…And what makes that track go when it comes to, you know, the rubber laying down. I don’t think you’ll have that, you could, I’ve been wrong before.”

Clearly, other competitors have a more optimistic outlook than Brad Keselowski. Let’s wait and see how far the RFK Racing owner goes to leave a mark in Bristol.