Brad Keselowski’s Disastrous State Put Into Statistical Perspective Against Teammates Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece

While RFK Racing appears to be experiencing an uptick in overall performance, the same cannot be said for the team’s co-owner and driver, Brad Keselowski. The NASCAR veteran, despite his teammates showing impressive pace on certain weekends, has failed to capitalize on opportunities when they have arisen and has fallen behind his teammates, Ryan Preece and Chris Buescher, as a result.

One of the reasons behind the increase in the team’s performance, according to the 2012 Cup Series champion, is the addition of the third full-time entry for the team, being driven this year by Ryan Preece. Keselowski believes that having three cars running every week allows the organization to add talent to support their goals in the sport.

However, while the same approach is working for his teammates, Keselowski seems to be struggling. This is evident in how often each driver has finished ahead of the others, 17 races into the regular season and with the playoffs approaching quickly.

Buescher leads the pack with 11 finishes ahead of Preece and Keselowski during this time, with the former Stewart-Haas Racing driver trailing with four finishes ahead of either of his teammates. Brad Keselowski, however, has only finished twice ahead of both of his drivers. His statistics for the year aren’t bright either, with just one finish inside the top five and no visits to victory lane yet.

With the sport heading to the newly renamed EchoPark Speedway this weekend in Atlanta, a venue inherently suiting Keselowski’s racing style as well as the strength of the Ford Mustang Dark Horse, the former Penske driver just might change how his season has headed so far.

Bowman and Gibbs suffer a similar fate at HMS and JGR

Alex Bowman and Ty Gibbs at Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing, respectively, also suffer from tough competition from their teammates, as neither driver has finished ahead of their teammates once during the year so far. Despite having a good run at the recent Mexico City race, Gibbs failed to capitalize during the sport’s international visit as well as their visit to Pocono last weekend, with finishes outside the top-10 on both occasions.

Bowman also has been suffering from a similar lack of performance. Ever since his return to the sport after injuries sustained in a sprint car, Bowman has failed to leave a mark in the Cup Series, logging only one victory last year at the Chicago City Street Race.

While the speed exhibited by the No. 48 crew and driver has been decent, they do not have any strong finishes to show for it, and that needs to change as the series nears the postseason. With upcoming back-to-back road course races, the momentum might just shift for Bowman.