“Those Days Are Probably Behind Us”: Brad Keselowski on New Reality With NASCAR Next Gen Cars

Before the NASCAR Next-Gen car’s debut in the Cup Series, drivers could dominate entire parts of the season, including the playoffs. The most recent example of this happening is Kyle Larson in 2021.

On his way to winning the championship, Yung Money won five of the 10 playoff races in 2021, as well as a total of 10 events throughout the year. Achieving a similar feat with the Next-Gen car would take unreal talent and Brad Keselowski does not believe it is possible at all anymore.

The lack of driver domination in the sport is by design. The Next-Gen car was brought in to make sure that everyone was on an even keel and that’s exactly what has happened.

The chase for the championship starts tomorrow. #6NeverQuits pic.twitter.com/sMBxiS2ciX

— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) September 7, 2024

The era of season-long domination is certainly over and the chances of a driver turning up and taking the whole field by storm in the playoffs is extremely unlikely. Last year was a big example as the driver who was crowned the Cup Series champion was not able to win the championship race.

“I think those days are probably behind us. With the old car you would get ahead as a driver and a team, particularly with the car and its overall potential. This car it’s significantly harder to do that, so the era of dominance is really over – at least with the current rule settings, which is intentional,” Keselowski told the media.

The RFK Racing veteran has made it into the playoffs this season and will be hoping for a good start in the first round this Sunday. It remains to be seen how he kicks off as the sole car challenging for the title from his team this year.

RFK Racing signs new NASCAR charter agreement

Keselowski is not just a race car driver in NASCAR. He is also a part-owner of RFK Racing. The team has been running well ever since he came into the mix and recently, it was announced that RFK had signed NASCAR’s new charter agreement.

There have been huge debates surrounding the matter for several months now. However, the veteran wanted to secure his and the team’s future in the top-most division of the sport and has done so recently.

“We want to run NASCAR for a long time to come and signing the charter agreement is a statement to our commitment to doing just that. We’ve got great plans for the sport and excited to see that continue on for quite some time,” he said.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen what comes of 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports’ outlier stance on the same issue.