07/28/2025
RFK Racing Grabs a Pair of Top Five Brickyard Finishes
Preece 4th, Keselowski 5th, Buescher 14th at Indianapolis
SPEEDWAY, IN (July 27, 2025) – Late race chaos at the Brickyard proved to be a blessing for Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing. Taking advantage of two overtime restarts, following a brief rain delay, Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski surged to the front, both scoring top five finishes. Chris Buescher contended much of the day as well, before the overtime intensity saw him shuffled back to 14th at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
60 Ryan Preece
It was a day defined by perseverance for Ryan Preece. The Castrol The Engine Ford started 23rd in Sunday’s Brickyard 400and spent much of Stage One navigating traffic. An early caution brought the No. 60 team to pit road, where an issue with the left rear tire forced a shift from a planned two-tire stop to a full four-tire change. Preece made a second stop shortly after to top off on fuel. Despite the setback, Preece held steady and gradually improved his track position, closing out the opening stage in 21st.
Looking to gain ground, Preece stayed out between stages while many others pitted, cycling to the lead and pacing the field for 12 laps. After surrendering the top spot with a pit stop on lap 64, he fell off sequence but made-up ground quickly. Still there was something Preece wanted – less turbulent air, which was prevalent in traffic. “Clean air is king,” he said over the radio. Still, he needed to contend with traffic and the turbulence behind it and ended Stage Two in 16th.
Between stages, Preece and crew chief Derrick Finley continued looking for ways to gain track position and elected to stay out while others pitted. More strategy on lap 121 saw the team make two-tire stop. By lap 151, Preece was running 13th and gaining momentum. Following a late-race red flag for rain and a pair of overtime restarts, Preece capitalized and charged to the front for a fourth-place finish – his best career finish at Indianapolis.
” For a car that doesn’t have track position and is starting 23rd, being able to finish fourth and execute it through strategy and restarts, that shows we have a really strong core,” said Preece, “I feel like, ultimately, the finish was a good ending for us.”
6 Brad Keselowski
Starting 14th, Brad Keselowski returned to Indianapolis Motor Speedway looking to recapture the magic of his 2018 Brickyard 400 win. Early in Stage One, he took a conservative approach, maintaining his track position with the Body Guard Ford just outside the top 10. After an early caution, the team opted for a two-tire stop that shuffled him back to 20th on the restart. He steadily regained ground through the remainder of the stage, climbing to 15th by the end of Stage One
Stage Two saw Keselowski restart deep in the field after another pit stop, but he clawed his way up to 16th by lap 79 then began playing a fuel strategy. A caution fell on lap 90, just after many competitors had pitted under green, and Keselowski stayed out, moving him up to seventh as others pitted. Another yellow soon followed, allowing the 6-car to restart on the outside of row one aside leader, Ryan Blaney. With four laps remaining in the segment, Keselowski got squeezed to the outside and slipped to 5th to end Stage Two.
After packing the car with fuel for the final stage, Keselowski restarted 20th. Employing a long-run strategy, he cycled as high as second while stretching his fuel and briefly chased leader Justin Haley. Later in the stage it appeared a caution would wave as Joey Logano’s car was limping down pit road. The yellow, which could’ve cemented Keselowski’s position up front, never came. Still Keselowski needed fuel and ducked down pit road for a quick two-tire stop returned him to the track in13th. He continued to push forward, running 11th when a caution flew for rain, halting the Brickyard 400 with five laps to go. Ther race ended in double overtime, with Keselowski making the most of it. Gobbling up positions in both green-white-checker attempts, the Body Guard Ford came home fifth.
“Solid day for us,” said Keselowski, “We were in position. At certain points we showed a lot of speed. We needed to catch a few breaks to win, which is normal for this race. We didn’t catch enough breaks, but we caught some good breaks to finish in the top five with both RFK cars.”
17 Chris Buescher
After a very strong qualifying effort, Chris Buescher rolled off seventh at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Early in Stage One he reported that his car was starting to free up, which was exactly what he wanted in his Kroger/Diet Cherry Coke Ford. Following a caution, the team made its first pit stop. He dropped to ninth on the restart but quickly worked his way forward, advancing to sixth by lap 45 and closing out the stage with a solid fifth-place finish.
Between stages, Buescher pitted for service and restarted 16th but wasted little time climbing back through the field. By lap 68 he was up to sixth, and he cracked the top five again by lap 79. A green flag pitstop on lap 83 temporarily shuffled him back to 23rd, but a caution shortly after allowed him to regain ground. He finished Stage Two in ninth, maintaining a steady presence in the top 10.
Opting for track position, Buescher stayed out between stages and restarted fifth. With fuel strategy coming into play, he began saving and slipped to seventh by lap 117. A caution for rain with five laps remaining brought out the red flag, and Buescher lined up eighth for the overtime restart. While he avoided the initial crash in the first overtime attempt, the second OT run saw him shuffled back in the pack, ultimately crossing the line in 14th
“Saving fuel there at the end and restarts were kind of crazy,” said Buescher. “We had enough fuel to make it obviously. We had our three cars lined up down the backstretch and Brad gave me a heck of a push and Ryan was out front. I kind of gave him a shove and we kind of pinballed each other heading into three and got in a little deep and smoked the left front some. But overall, we were fast. Just an extremely hard day to pass.”
