Brad Keselowski’s winless stretch didn’t end when the 2025 season did. The 2012 Cup Series champion went through the year without a victory, posting 13 top-10 finishes and six top-fives, results that reopened questions about his long-term future. When a serious injury followed late in the year, those questions only grew louder. Now, as 2026 approaches, the Brad Keselowski and RFK Racing co-owner finds himself facing renewed retirement chatter, even though he affirms otherwise.

“No,” Brad Keselowski said when asked about retirement. “I mean, I really want to run until I’m in my late 40s.”

Journalist Bob Pockrass told him about a certain NASCAR garage rumor, broaching the topic of his departure from the sport.

“No, that’s definitely not happening,” Keselowski said sternly again.

Indeed, the rumor seemed understandable as Keselowski‘s injury is quite serious. He slipped on the ice and broke his right femur while exiting his vehicle on a ski trip in December. Although he thought he would return smoothly in 2026, Keselowski will miss the Cook Out Clash on February 1.

Keselowski underwent emergency surgery in Boone, North Carolina. The rehabilitation process is 6 to 8 hours per day, and the normal recovery time is 8 to 12 weeks. In the middle of this rough-and-tumble situation, however, the veteran racer has found more motivation to keep moving forward.

“There’s some actually kind of rewarding parts of it,” Keselowski said of the break. “Like I’m at my house all day, every day, so I get to see my kids a lot right now, and I’m enjoying that part of it. I’m enjoying the challenge of having a great team of people around me and putting the work in. No, I think if anything, it’s a reminder of what my life would be like if I wasn’t racing. And it makes me want to race.”

Corey LaJoie will take Keselowski’s place and drive the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford in the clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. LaJoie is a reserve driver and will make his first start for the organization on February 1. Having 276 Cup Series starts, LaJoie is also a past winner at Bowman Gray, clinching the 2012 NASCAR Hall of Fame 150 in an ARCA Menards Series East race.

With LaJoie filling in, the focus now shifts to when Keselowski himself will be cleared to return.

Brad Keselowski’s this injury stands out

Brad Keselowski has a long history of painful crash-induced injuries. In 2007, he suffered a harrowing wreck on a four-wheel ATV at Virginia International Speedway. He lost control and ran smack into a chain-link fence, sustaining a hematoma on his leg, bruises on his face and mouth, and a broken left eye socket.

Keselowski also suffered a broken ankle in a testing crash back in August 2011. But he admitted recently that his skiing misadventure may be the worst yet.

“It’s a really painful thing to break,” Brad Keselowski recently said. “It’s the biggest bone in your body, which is kind of the bad part about it. The good thing is it’s also one of the fastest healing parts of your body, so I’m just really dealing with the pain and trying to recover as fast as I can. I’ve broken a lot of different bones and parts of my body. I will tell you, none of them come close to hurting as bad as breaking your femur. It’s a very painful injury.”

Clearly, Keselowski’s off-season was not the brightest, and it remains to be seen when his 2026 season will resume.