Strong Results, But No Brickyard 400 Win For RFK

Ryan Preece (60) led the way for RFK Racing in Sunday's Brickyard 400. (John Harrelson/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – While strong results came for RFK Racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, it wasn’t exactly the news the organization was looking for after the 29th Brickyard 400.

The good news was that all three team cars finished inside the top 15. The not-so-good news was that a new winner in Bubba Wallace locked into the playoff field, and now all three RFK cars are closer to cut line jeopardy.

There are three playoff spots left and just four races remaining to make a stand and qualify for the postseason. But first, there was the end of the Brickyard 400 to consider.

Ryan Preece finished fourth for his best career finish on the IMS oval, team co-owner Brad Keselowski finished fifth and secured his second top five in the last three Cup Series races on oval tracks, and Chris Buescher came home 14th for his fourth career top 15 in the Brickyard 400.

All that was a boon, yes. But Wallace’s victory dropped Buescher to the bubble spot in the 16-driver playoff picture, 42 points ahead of Preece.

Keselowski sits 25th on the playoff grid and in a must-win scenario.

Preece, in particular, wasn’t focused on points after the race. He’s solely looking at winning his way into championship contention.

“We’ve been talking about points for a little while now, but our car was pretty solid today. We just needed to fight for that track position,” said Preece. “When we had it we showed signs of a lot of speed, so I feel like us as an organization between me, Chris and Brad we’re coming up to some tracks we feel really good about.

”For a car that didn’t have track position and started the race in 23rd place, being able to finish fourth and execute it through strategy and restarts, that shows we have a really strong core,” Preece added. “I feel like, ultimately, the finish was a good ending for us.”

Sunday was the fifth time this season the RFK trio has finished with all three cars inside the top 15.

“It was a solid day for us, we were in position at the end. At certain points we showed a lot of speed. But we needed to catch a few breaks to win, which is normal for the Brickyard 400,” said Keselowski.

“We didn’t catch enough breaks, but we caught some good ones to finish in the top five with two RFK cars.”

Passing was a challenge, as blocking cut off the air flow to create runs between competitors. With cars becoming tight, drivers were forced to get out the gas, which stalled runs in the middle of corners and on straightaways.

While that is simply the art of the famed ‘Racing Capital of the World,’ the passing factor also meant qualifying well on Saturday put drivers in a better position to execute race strategy on Sunday.

Brad Keselowski (Rusty Jones/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Both Keselowski and Buescher started inside the top 15. However, strategy for fuel and tires mixed up the field, even as the RFK cars combined for 14 stage points, and 102 points overall as a team.

With just four races left until the postseason, and all four tracks having different characteristics that make them stand out from one another, the finish to the regular season still has many variables ahead.

Iowa Speedway and Richmond (Va.) Raceway are both short tracks, while Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l is a road course and Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway is the ultimate equalizer for the regular season finale as a superspeedway.

Keselowski has wins at both Richmond and Daytona in his career, but in the Next Gen era, his best shot at a win is arguably Daytona, with three top 10s there since 2022. For Buescher, he’s won at each track besides Iowa, with his best shot coming at Watkins Glen as the defending winner from a year ago.

Preece, who hopes to make his first ever Cup Series playoff appearance, boasts the short tracks as his highest average finish among track types. On the road at Watkins Glen last year, though, he did finish ninth.

But, the playoff pursuit starts when the Cup Series heads to Iowa Speedway to begin the month of August. In the Cup Series’ inaugural race at Iowa, Buescher finished 18th, Keselowski was 10th, and Preece was 27th driving then for Stewart-Haas Racing.

“Obviously Bubba Wallace winning today made it a little difficult to point our way in, but all eyes are on winning now,” said Preece. “Our goal is to try and win at all of the remaining four races. We’re going to try and win our way in.”

Coverage of the Iowa Corn 350 powered by Ethanol begins Sunday, Aug. 3 at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.