“I am so proud of everyone at RFK and what we have been able to accomplish these last few years. To get it here at Ford’s home track, this one is always big. It is Jack’s home track and Brad’s home track and this is where we needed one. To fight for it and have such a clean race there with Truex at the end, he was really close to getting us at one point. We had to keep digging on it,” Buescher said.
Not only did Buescher claim the checkered flag on Monday, but Keselowski took 4th place, further solidifying his place in the playoffs, where he’s likely to qualify on points even if he can’t find victory lane in the next few weeks.
Having two cars in the playoffs would be a huge accomplishment for the RFK Racing team, and a sign that a return to the team’s glory days may be here to stay for the long-term.
Brad, of course, would have preferred to be in victory lane at Michigan as the winning driver, but I know he’s thrilled to see how Buescher is performing for the rejuvenated team.
“Chris (Buescher) nailed it there at the end. Credit to both teams working together and making good adjustments and learned from each other applied them to get the speed out of our cars,” Keselowski said. “We drove from 21st or 22nd there the last run up to fourth. I wish the race was like 30 or 40 laps longer because I was coming. We were running 37.80’s and the leaders were running 38.0. We just ran out of laps. If we can’t win it, I am so glad Chris did.”
And he’s remaining humble about RFK’s recent success.
“We're letting our results speak for themselves. Chris has done a heck of a job driving the car,” Keselowski said. “When you get a win, it feels really good. We got to keep some humbleness and keep our head down. There's some great competition out here.”
With Jack Roush getting older, and Brad poised to be the face of the team ownership for the long-term even after he stops driving, the goal must be to establish RFK Racing as an perennial powerhouse that can take on the Hendrick, Gibbs and Penskes of the Cup world.
Achieving that goal will likely involve eventual expansion, which Brad addressed this weekend by saying he needs to first see how the new TV deal works out, in addition to learning more about what charters, if any, may become available in the future.
“I think we would definitely like to do that but it is easier said than done. For the time being I think we are quite satisfied with the relationship we are building with the Rick Ware Racing cars which allows us to kind of add some depth to our roster without going out and buying another charter right now. I think it is maybe well documented and maybe not, but it is almost impossible to buy a charter. Nobody is selling one. Really no matter what your offer is you can’t buy one. I think there have been some people knocking on the door with a lot of money and the answer is that your money is not good anywhere. Everyone on the team owner side wants to see where the charter goes and where the TV media rights deal goes. So there are no charters even actively for sale right now. It will be interesting to see where that plays out over the next 24 months when this thing gets announced. Ultimately we would like to get to a third car. It has to be possible and right now it is not possible.”
On a personal note, as someone who watched Mark Martin drive the No. 6 Valvoline car to victory lane at my first-ever live Cup event back in August of 1997, and then went on to watch a bevy of Roush cars dominate the field over the years, it was quite disappointing to see the slump the team went into during the latter half of the 2010s as they shrunk down to a two-car team.
Keselowski’s arrival has proven to be the kick in the pants that the organization needed to get back in gear, and it’s great to see an organization with such great history on a path back to its former level. It won’t be easy to maintain this momentum, but with talented drivers like Keselowski and Buescher combined with new leadership, the elements are there for sustained success.
Race notes:
— Buescher’s margin of victory over Truex was a mere 0.152 seconds, giving the fans who chose to return to the stands on Monday a great show and last-lap battle.
— Ford has now won an incredible 9 straight races at Michigan, so the Heritage Trophy will remain with the Blue Oval. Ford has a grand total of 44 Cup wins at Michigan.
— Kevin Harvick, winner of 5 of the previous 7 races at Michigan Speedway and has a total of 6 victories at the track, came home in 8th place today.
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