“It ain’t over till it’s over.” These words perfectly describe Brad Keselowski’s approach to the storm brewing in his career. In the past four years, the 2012 Cup Series champion has collected only one victory, which came in Darlington last year. 2025 has been his statistically worst season since 2010, his de facto rookie year. Yet Keselowski shrugs at these ominous facts and continues to persevere, the results of which are faintly visible.

RFK Racing has yet to clinch a Cup Series victory this year. After roping in Ryan Preece for the team’s third leased charter, the consistent finishes have been in place. Preece boasts 9 top tens, and Chris Buescher boasts 11 top tens. Unfortunately, Keselowski’s consistency is not the same, but his goal is higher than that, and recent finishes show an upward trend that Brad publicly expressed his pride in after the Brickyard 400.

Brad Keselowski is building up his appetite

When Brad Keselowski left Team Penske at the end of 2022, he had a purpose. He clinched his Cup Series title and 35 race trophies under Penske, and yet he was willing to let go of that glory to build something new. However, while investing his time in RFK Racing as a team owner and as a driver, Keselowski’s stats dwindled.

His poor finishes continued into 2025, the first half of which he has finished outside the top 25 several times. Keselowski owns only 6 top tens and 3 top fives, but the near misses among these finishes show his unabated drive. He was close to victory at Pocono if not for two pit road mistakes, and also in Atlanta if not for Hendrick Motorsports‘ late race charge. And the clock seems to be ticking faster than ever until Brad Keselowski’s Victory Lane visit, and the #6 is also driving faster than he has this season.

The stats show evidence of that, as Keselowski registered his third top 5 finish of the season at the Brickyard 400, all of which have come after Memorial Day Weekend! He also furthered his rank in the championship standings, and Journalist Steven Taranto wrote about how Keselowski reached 24th in the past two months on X: “Brad Keselowski has been on quite a run as of late. Has improved almost a full 10 spots in points since being 33rd in May.” The No. 6 Ford driver himself replied to this post, swelling with pride, writing, “Really proud of how our team is starting to gel. Very hungry to win and feeling like we are getting closer to doing it… #6NeverQuits”

Brad Keselowski is invested in his purpose. And why won’t he be, as the man had once won a 2011 Pocono race days after breaking his ankle. He also came through in the 2014 Talladega race in a must-win playoff situation. What is more? Keselowski recently reflected that the ups and downs in his career do not rattle him. He said in an Indianapolis press briefing: “I think those are natural ebbs and flows that you kind of work through, and you have to find your own motivation. That motivation changes throughout your career. At least I feel that way. You find different things that motivate you. You have to find them if you want to stay a part of it.”

And one source of motivation for Brad Keselowski is presently his old NASCAR rival.

Fanning old flames with Kyle Busch

Presently, there is no significant beef in NASCAR. Except for Carson Hocevar constantly ruffling feathers on every other race weekend, no driver rivalries are in the headlines. Gone are the days of Dale Earnhardt vs Jeff Gordon or Cale Yarborough vs the Allison brothers. However, we do have active Cup Series drivers who were once embroiled in conflicts, such are Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch.

From Keselowski calling Busch “an a–“ in 2010 to both drivers facing off on the last lap of a Watkins Glen race, the battles were endless. However, it has been 15 years since the peak of their rivalry, when both were exceptional on the track and won races regularly. Now, however, Brad Keselowski wants to reignite those flames – just for the sake of restoring the wins.

Like Keselowski, even Kyle Busch is riding a 78-race winless streak. Hence, Keselowski wants the rivalry back: “I think we’re [Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski] both in a position where it’s hard to have a rivalry, and I’ve said this throughout my whole career, where you’re not competing for wins. Right now, neither of us has consistently been in a spot where we are consistently competing for wins, so any type of rivalry is really just a distraction where both of us are just trying to get our programs better… I would love to rekindle that rivalry because in my eyes, what that would mean is we are competing with each other for wins.”

Watch out for Brad Keselowski’s moves, as the veteran looks determined as ever to win a race. Let us wait and see when he gets it done. Do you think either of Busch or Keselowski will win a race before the season’s end? Let us know in the comments!