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Is Jack Roush Actively Involved in the Working of RFK Racing Anymore? Brad Keselowski Gives Details

Jerry Bonkowski
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Brad Keselowski and Jack Roush in Victory Lane, Thursday February 17, 2022 after winning the first Bluegreen Vacations Duel at Daytona international Speedway. Dtb First Duel Winner 2

NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Jack Roush may not attend every Cup race anymore, but he’s still very active in the operation of the racing organization he founded, now known as Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing.

Roush is now 83 years old and has understandably slowed down in recent years. But when he passed the baton to Brad Keselowski after the 2021 season, making the 2012 Cup champion a one-third owner of the company, Roush knew he was putting things in good hands.

“Jack’s an interesting guy — obviously very smart, very technical,” Keselowski said on a recent episode of the Chasing Checkers podcast with Chase McCabe. “He’s in a season of life that makes it hard for him to be everyday-engaged. We probably talk once every week or two, where I try to catch him up on what’s going on.

“What I really respect about Jack is he pushes very hard for accountability, which is something that is important, outside of even our business, but all aspects of our life. He drives accountability harder than anybody I’ve ever seen.”

It would not be surprising if Roush has held Keselowski accountable for his shortcomings. Prior to joining RFK, Keselowski not only won the 2012 Cup championship, he also earned 35 Cup wins.

But since taking over much of the day-to-day responsibilities of RFK starting in 2022, Keselowski has earned just one win and comes into Sunday’s race at his home state track, Michigan International Speedway, in a disappointing 32nd place.

Although he’s scaled back on some of his duties, Roush remains active with RFK, still holding the titles of founder, CEO and co-owner, as well as majority owner of outside businesses Roush Enterprises, Roush Performance, Roush Industries and Roush CleanTech, all based in suburban Detroit, Mich.

Before taking on John Henry and eventually Keselowski as partners and co-owners, Roush’s teams won two NASCAR Cup championships, five Xfinity Series titles and one Truck Series crown.

Roush eyed Keselowski as his eventual replacement

Keselowski had been firmly entrenched at Team Penske from the end of 2009 through 2021, but Roush made Keselowski an offer he couldn’t refuse: become part of a three-way partnership with Roush and Henry, with eventual plans to pass the baton of leadership to Keselowski once Roush and Henry called it quits.

“I’ll be able to back away some and to not go to all the races and not be the first one on top of the pit box and the last one in my car to go home as I’ve been in the past for most of my time,” Roush said at the time.

“I enjoy passing the baton to Brad. Steve (RFK president Steve Newmark) questioned me if I was really willing to do that and I said, ‘Well, as long as I can keep one hand on it for a while, it will work for me.’”

Now, we may be seeing Keselowski’s transition into more of a team owner than a driver.

Post Edited By:Abhishek Ramesh

About the author

Jerry Bonkowski

Jerry Bonkowski

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Jerry Bonkowski is a veteran sportswriter who has worked full-time for many of the top media outlets in the world, including USA Today (15 years), ESPN.com (4+ years), Yahoo Sports (4 1/2 years), NBCSports.com (8 years) and others. He has covered virtually every major professional and collegiate sport there is, including the Chicago Bulls' six NBA championships (including heavy focus on Michael Jordan), the Chicago Bears Super Bowl XX-winning season, the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs World Series championships, two of the Chicago Blackhawks' NHL titles, Tiger Woods' PGA Tour debut, as well as many years of beat coverage of the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA for USA Today. But Jerry's most notable achievement has been covering motorsports, most notably NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA drag racing and Formula One. He has had a passion for racing since he started going to watch drag races at the old U.S. 30 Dragstrip (otherwise known as "Where the Great Ones Run!") in Hobart, Indiana. Jerry has covered countless NASCAR, IndyCar and NHRA races and championship battles over the years. He's also the author of a book, "Trading Paint: 101 Great NASCAR Debates", published in 2010 (and he's hoping to soon get started on another book). Away from sports, Jerry was a fully sworn part-time police officer for 20 years, enjoys reading and music (especially "hair bands" from the 1980s and 1990s), as well as playing music on his electric keyboard, driving (fast, of course!), spending time with Cyndee his wife of nearly 40 years, the couple's three adult children and three grandchildren (with more to come!), and his three dogs -- including two German Shepherds and an Olde English Bulldog who thinks he's a German Shepherd.. Jerry still gets the same excitement of seeing his byline today as he did when he started in journalism as a 15-year-old high school student. He is looking forward to writing hundreds, if not thousands, of stories in the future for TheSportsRush.com, as well as interacting with readers.

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