Texas Runner-Up Brad Keselowski Frustrated by Lack of Speed at RFK; Praises Team for Perfect Execution

Among frustrations about a lack of pace at RFK Racing, Brad Keselowski praised his team for its perfect execution Sunday at Texas, which led the No. 6 Ford Mustang to a second-place finish.

NASCAR

by Joseph Srigley on Apr 15, 2024

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hero image for Texas Runner-Up Brad Keselowski Frustrated by Lack of Speed at RFK; Praises Team for Perfect Execution

The driver in me is frustrated because I feel like these are races I am good enough to win, but don't have enough speed to do it. The owner in me is mad as hell because it is my fault for not making the cars faster.

— Brad Keselowski, Owner-Driver for RFK Racing

Despite a season-best result for Brad Keselowski, and a sixth consecutive top-15 for teammate Chris Buescher, there remains some contempt in the RFK Racing camp as the NASCAR Cup Series departs Texas Motor Speedway.

The 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion came just one spot short of the victory on Sunday, his third runner-up finish since joining the ownership group of RFK Racing at the start of 2022. His teammate Chris Buescher finished 15^th, earning his sixth consecutive top-15 result dating back to Phoenix in March.

In the cases of both Keselowski and Buescher, neither driver appeared to have the raw speed necessary to drive their Ford Mustang Dark Horse entries into the top-10 without assistance. However, in a race that was filled with cautions and alternate strategies, Matt McCall, crew chief on the No. 6, shone through in a big way.

After hovering just outside the top-10 for much of the afternoon, Keselowski was brought to pit road for the second-to-last time at Lap 167. Then, following a pair of quick yellows, the race had its second-longest green-flag run, forcing drivers who had been on track for 70-plus laps to make green-flag stops, while Keselowski and several others stayed on track.

In the middle of that drawn-out pit sequence, John Hunter Nemechek slammed the outside wall, bringing out the caution and trapping several of the drivers who made pit stops a lap down, and allowing Keselowski to make his final stop at Lap 230.

With tires fresher than the race leaders, Keselowski was able to slice his No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang through traffic and into the top five before the next caution was displayed at Lap 254, which began an onslaught of cautions and subsequent restarts. In a second NASCAR Overtime restart, the field reached the white flag, and the Rochester Hills, Michigan native was able to slip by for second as Ross Chastain and William Byron came together on the final lap.

Despite an amazing rally that saw the 35-time NASCAR Cup Series winner take a car that ran outside the top-30 on merit during the race’s opening run to a second-place result, the series veteran was still frustrated – not necessarily with the performance, but the car’s lack of pace.

“We didn’t have a ton of speed. Honestly, I am more frustrated than anything because I feel like we have a great team and we don’t have the speed to go with it,” said Keselowski. “We are doing all we can do to overcome that. The driver in me is frustrated because I feel like these are races I am good enough to win but don’t have enough speed to do it. The owner in me is mad as hell because it is my fault for not making the cars faster.”

When the checkered flag was displayed on Sunday, Keselowski only managed an average running position of 17.59, ranked 14^th on the afternoon. However, it was a great strategy by Matt McCall, great pit stops by his RFK Racing crew, and the tenacity of the driver that allowed the No. 6 to make the best of the situation and score a second-place run.

That’s often a trait that separates the good drivers and teams from the great ones, and something that Keselowski left Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 with great satisfaction about, as he scored his third top-five in the last six races.

“I am still proud of the team that we have with the pit stops and strategy and execution to put ourselves in position to get a finish we probably didn’t deserve but earned with some never-give-up spirit,” Keselowski added. “It was a good job of executing with what we had. It is frustrating. You can still get good finishes by running good smart days, executing on pit road, and having great strategy and I am proud of our team for doing that today.”

Heading to Talladega Superspeedway, a statistically strong track for both Keselowski and Buescher, the 40-year-old driver sits 17^th in NASCAR Cup Series point standings, only a single point below the Playoff Cutline, with a long way until the regular-season finale this Fall at Darlington.

Photo Credit: Ben Earp, NKP, Courtesy of Ford Performance