08/11/2025

All Three RFK Racing Teams Lead Laps, Score Stage Points at Watkins Glen

Buescher’s Playoff Hopes Bolstered With Strong Run

WATKINS GLEN, NY (August 10, 2025) – Chris Buescher’s spirited defense of his 2024 Watkins Glen crown set the tone for a strong showing by all three RFK Racing teams, as the BuildSubmarines.com Ford stormed to a Stage One win and kept the team in the mix all afternoon. Buescher, Ryan Preece, and Brad Keselowski each showcased race-winning speed, with all three leading laps and gaining stage points.

17 Chris Buescher

Chris Buescher’s thrilling Watkins Glen Victory a season ago, was among the top highlights of 2024. It was also a huge confidence boost heading into Sunday. The defending race winner started 12th before quickly driving the BuildSubmarines.com Ford forward, cracking the top 10 by lap five. As pit strategy began to develop late in Stage One, Buescher stayed on track while others pitted, gaining hard to get track position. The call paid off as he surged to the front and claimed the Stage One win, adding a playoff point and setting an early tone for the day.

Buescher again stayed out to begin Stage Two, leading the field to green. The team initially aimed to stretch fuel to their pit window, but fading rear grip forced a stop that initially dropped him to 31st, but there would be a strong recovery. Fresh tires and the pit cycle allowed Buescher to climb to 15th before a late caution. He closed out the stage13th, keeping himself in contention.

The No. 17 team held their track position into Stage Three, restarting ninth and sticking to their fuel strategy. Buescher pitted on lap 54 with teammate Ryan Preece. Together they rejoined deep in the field before, once again, cycling forward as others made their stops. With 24 laps remaining, he was up to 11th, and by the final 14 laps he had charged to second, setting his sights on Shane Van Gisbergen; the driver he outdueled for the win a year ago. Despite closing the gap, Buescher ultimately finished third, delivering a respectable defense of his 2024 victory and holding onto the final playoff position (+34) with two regular season races remaining.

“I’m really proud of everybody, to bring this BuildSubmarines.com Mustang back here and have this kind of speed,” said Buescher. “We had a really fast race car again, just definitely took the opportunity to capitalize on some big stage points there early. Still got back up into second there and was making some pretty good headway. But just used it up really hard trying to get by a couple cars and get to that track position, and it fell off pretty hard there at the end.”

60 Ryan Preece

A year ago, Ryan Preece scored his career best finish of 9th at Watkins Glen. That mark though has been broken several times this year in his first season with RFK Racing, and on Sunday he was riding a streak of consecutive top five finishes. Driving the Mohawk Northeast Ford, he started 17th and held steady in the opening laps. Strategy, like it has been several times for the 60-team this season, allowed him to gain track position. Opting not to pit in Stage one, he matriculated toward the front as others stopped. Preece closed out the stage third.

Like his teammate Chris Buescher, Preece stayed out to begin Stage Two, lining up second on the restart. On lap 24 he briefly led the race. Prece made his scheduled stop on lap 30, which dropped him to 27th, but fresh tires allowed him to quickly climb back through the field. By the closing laps of the segment, he had worked his way into the top 10, securing a 10th-place finish in the stage and adding more stage points to his total.

Electing not to pit between stages, Preece restarted sixth for the final run and advanced to fifth while chasing down Christopher Bell. Although he was doing a masterful job racing on worn tires, he slipped to seventh before pitting on lap 54. Needing to ensure they got a full fuel load, the stop was longer than usual, and he rejoined the field 37th. Persevering, he steadily worked forward as the pit cycle played out. Preece reached as high as ninth before ultimately earning for a 13th-place finish.

“We did everything we needed to do as a group and team, and we need to execute elite right now. That’s what it takes,” said Preece, who is on the playoff bubble. “I know our team is going to perform the next two weeks (final regular season races) like we are champions.”

6 Brad Keselowski

Riding a wave of momentum, fresh off consecutive top five finishes, Brad Keselowski was ready for Watkins Glen. Ready to continue his surge toward winning a race and securing a playoff spot. He rolled off 16th in the Nexlizet Ford and wasted no time gaining a spot on the opening lap. Keselowski maintained a steady pace in the early going, opting for a conservative approach to preserve his equipment. A strategically planned pitstop on lap 16, four laps from the end of the segment, dropped him in the running order but set him up to gain spots when others filtered through their pit cycle later. Keselowski was 21st at the end of Stage One.

Stage Two saw Keselowski’s strategy begin to pay off. While running 19th a caution flew, bringing many to pit road. Keselowski stayed out, gaining track position, allowing him to restart 15th and continue climbing. With his previous stop dating back to lap 16, he cycled forward as pit stops unfolded, cracking the top five by the closing laps of the segment. He held that position to finish the stage fifth, collecting valuable stage points.

Keselowski pitted during the stage break and restarted 27th to being the final stage and quickly began making up ground. As the final pit cycle developed, he stayed on strategy and steadily picked off positions, climbing into the top three by lap 64 and moving into second with 25 laps to go. Running strong on older tires, he took the lead on lap 7, before making his final pit stop on lap 74. Although he returned to the track in 22nd, confidence was high that the plan would allow him once again to surged back to the front as pit stops unfolded. That plan though was thwarted when Keselowski had a flat left rear tire, leaving him with an unrepresentative 31st place finish.