Martinsville Speedway (Martinsville, Va.) — Brad Keselowski doesn’t have a ride yet for 2027, but he indicated he got closer to one, thanks to major steps to close his RFK Racing tenure.
Keselowski said Saturday that earlier in the morning — about an hour before a news conference he already had scheduled — he and his RFK partners came to an oral agreement that Keselowski would sell his 20 percent equity in the team.
Ultimately, Keselowski relinquishes his seat on the company board and he has the release to drive for any team, any manufacturer.
The 2012 Cup champion, who became a minority owner in the team five years ago, said he reached a 20 percent equity stake “in the last few months.” He had made an offer in the last month to buy out his partners, Jack Roush and the Fenway Sports Group.
Brad Keselowski revealed about more where he stands with RFK at a press conference at Martinsville.
The offer, which came about a month after RFK Racing announced that it would not re-sign Keselowski as a driver for 2027, was rejected.
Keselowski indicated that the tone of the news conference likely would have been different if their agreement had not been reached. He spoke for 35 minutes on Saturday, saying he has not been able to have meaningful conversations with teams about 2027 because he needed to secure his release.
The 42-year-old driver, who has won once in the last five years, left the door open to drive for any team.
“Five years ago, I joined with the idea that it would be my forever home,” Keselowski said. “That would be where I’d finish my career, transcend into management and ownership for the rest of my professional career in life.
“That was really where my heart was, and it didn’t play out the way that we hoped that would work out. But there were a lot of good things that did happen. I would say, objectively, I was able to be a part of taking this team up a level in every measurable way.”
While he is interested in earning the triple crown, as the first driver to win a title in all three national series (he would need a truck title to accomplish that feat), Keselowski indicated he hopes to be in Cup next year.
After this season, Keselowski (L) will no longer be teammates with Ryan Preece (R) at RFK.
“I’m obviously very interested in remaining a part of the Cup Series in a really meaningful way,” Keselowski said. “I have a lot of interest in the triple crown. We’ll see how it plays out and what the opportunities cement themselves to be and go from there.”
Keselowski indicated his investors are interested in purchasing a race team and that the interest in Cup team ownership is high.
“I made a very serious offer to purchase RFK,” Keselowski said. “I can’t go into the specifics of what it was. There’s a lot of interest in this sport right now, tremendous interest in this sport on the ownership front.
“It’s never been hotter. … [It is] an ownership asset that has certainty, and it has a level of stability. The valuations have dramatically increased, along with interest.”
Of course, Keselowski has an incentive to indicate that ownership interest is high as he sells his shares. He knows the impact of his words. And yet amidst it all, it was still somewhat surreal to see Keselowski talking about the breakup of RFK Racing, considering he is the K in the team name.
Team president Chip Bowers said earlier this month that he wanted Keselowski to phase out of his driving role and be more active in the competition oversight role he already had responsibility for at the organization.
But how did they get to a point where Keselowski, a Michigan kid who appeared to come help a Michigan businessman (Roush) revitalize his team, had this partnership fall apart?
“I can’t necessarily answer for other people,” Keselowski said. “I can only answer for myself. My partners made the decision they made, and they have the right to make that decision.
“Their own rationale or reasoning is best left to them.”
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