Ryan Preece Still Optimistic of Playoff Berth After Statement RFK Result

RFK Racing has been hitting its stride this season, with Ryan Preece’s arrival in 2025 giving Brad Keselowski’s team an added spark in the Cup Series. Across 23 starts, the team has stacked up 10 top-five finishes with Preece bagging three of them, Keselowski four, and Buescher three. 28 top-10s also showcase clear momentum. This past week only reinforced that upward trajectory.

Keselowski and Preece delivered a historic run by placing in the top five in back-to-back races at Indianapolis and Iowa, marking the first time the RFK Racing team has accomplished that feat since 2012.

At Iowa, while Buescher could only claw his way from a P27 start to finish 22nd, Keselowski and Preece came home third and fifth, after starting from P5 and P33, respectively. A week earlier at Indianapolis, Buescher managed P14, with Keselowski and Preece finishing fifth and fourth, respectively.

Those @RFKracing cars are on the rise.

For the first time since 2012, the team has placed two cars in the top five in consecutive races. pic.twitter.com/qT8PLmuYn3

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 3, 2025

Though Preece has yet to lock himself into the playoffs with three regular-season races remaining, he remains optimistic. “Ultimately, I look forward to Watkins Glen, Richmond, and Daytona. All three of us can still get in, and it’s going to take a lot of perseverance and a lot of luck, but we have fast race cars, and we can get the job done,” he said.

Keselowski echoed that confidence, praising the team’s effort after the race. “Great run from both of our RFK cars. We obviously want to win, but we are in contention, that’s for sure,” he told reporters.

Looking ahead, he added, “Watkins Glen has been good for us. It’s been a good track for me; my teammate won there last year. Just keep putting solid runs on the board, and I feel like this will come to us, and we’ve got some pretty strong
Ford Mustangs right now.”

In last year’s race at Watkins Glen, Keselowski had finished 26th, while Buescher found victory lane during the playoffs.

About the author

Neha Dwivedi

Neha Dwivedi is an experienced NASCAR Journalist at The SportsRush, having penned over 5500 articles on the sport to date. She was a seasoned writer long before she got into the world of NASCAR. Although she loves to see Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch win the races, she equally supports the emerging talents in the CARS Late Model and ARCA Menards Series.. For her work in NASCAR she has earned accolades from journalists like Susan Wade of The Athletic, as well as NASCAR drivers including Thad Moffit and Corey Lajoie. Her favorite moment from NASCAR was witnessing Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. win the championship trophies. Outside the racetrack world, Neha immerses herself in the literary world, exploring both fiction and non-fiction.

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