LAS VEGAS — After one of the most surprising developments of the 2026 NASCAR season, Brad Keselowski and RFK Racing president Chip Bowers offered insight into the circumstances surrounding their split on Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The 2026 season was the final year of a five-year driving contract for Keselowski, who joined the team as a driver and co-owner ahead of the 2022 campaign. Keselowski hoped to continue his driving career well into the future while RFK wanted him to move into the lead competition role more promptly.
RELATED: Sunday’s starting lineup | At-track photos: Vegas
Within the last month, discussions between the two sides broke down and Keselowski’s future became clearer. At the end of the 2026 season, he will be looking for his next opportunity.
“We wanted to make sure organizationally that not only we set ourselves up for near-term success, but really long-term sustainable success,” Bowers said to a room full of media members at Las Vegas. “And so, when we started looking at what the next three years look like for us and beyond, it was clear that we wanted Brad to start focusing more on his role in competition.
“For us, we wanted that to be a natural transition over the next two to three years for Brad. I think he wants to continue to drive much longer than that, and that’s fine. We applaud that. Like I said, we want to give Brad, because we have such immense respect and appreciation for Brad, every opportunity to do all the things he wants to do in his career. But that’s what makes it so hard, right? This is a business, and we just weren’t aligned with that, and that happens. We just wanted to make the competition side more of a focus. He wanted to focus more on the driving side. We get that, and that’s why it took us so long to get here.”
Keselowski wouldn’t delve into the specifics of his departure, though he remains appreciative of the opportunity to dip his toes into Cup Series ownership with RFK. He doesn’t consider himself sentimental, but knew the writing was on the wall that he wouldn’t be returning to the organization in 2027 over the past 30 days.
“It’s been a hell of a ride,” Keselowski stated in his opening remarks, swarmed by the media. “I’ve gotten to enjoy everything I’ve gotten to do with RFK – and my career is not over by any means. There’s still a lot of things to work out. I can’t really go into details of how we got to where we are at least at this time until a few more things develop.”
Bowers said he was surprised that the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement to extend Keselowski’s tenure within the organization. He acknowledged that there were zero arguments between the 2012 champion and Roush Enterprises and Fenway Sports Group over the direction of the company.
Keselowski wasn’t as perplexed, mentioning: “There’s a lot of things that surprise me, but this was not one of them.”
MORE: Weekend schedule | Projected results for Las Vegas
Keselowski remains interested in being part of an ownership group in the future, saying it’s “doubtful” this marks the end of his time as a team owner in the sport.
“I still love the sport and want to be around long after my driving days are done,” Keselowski said, defiantly.
Bowers stated a solid foundation was laid internally for RFK to succeed in the future. He credits that to Keselowski’s vision for the organization as he helped change the culture internally upon arriving in 2022.
“We feel we’ve gone to an area where we’ve become more competitive than we’ve been historically,” Bowers added. “Now it’s time to take the next step. We have a great deal of belief that we have the right people to do that and look forward to adding additional talent to help us get there.”
One of Keselowski’s key hires was driver Ryan Preece ahead of the 2025 season. Preece, who won his way into The Chase presented by Mobil 1 in the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway, considers Keselowski a great teammate and someone who helped the New Englander find his voice. He’s not concerned about the upcoming change at RFK.
“This is an opportunity to keep building the house, man. It’s not going to get torn down,” Preece stated. “I see a lot of glass-half-empty things and I’m a glass-half-full guy. We have a really strong foundation at RFK and right now. I’m a racer; it’s taken me too damn long to win races and I feel like we want to keep going that way.”
Bowers, who leads a company of roughly 200 employees, said he isn’t concerned the change will fracture relationships within the organization. While he credits Keselowski for helping establish RFK’s new culture, he emphasized that changing the organization’s trajectory has been a collective effort.
“Culture is not led by one person; it’s led by many, and a lot of that credit goes to all the people in our organization who see the vision of what we’re trying to accomplish,” Bowers said. “It starts at the top. I’ve got a mentor in our business who always says the best recipe for success in professional sports is three ingredients: ownership, ownership, and ownership. And so, when you’ve got great ownership at the top, we trickle down the communication of we want to be great, and this is what greatness looks like in our eyes, and we want you to be a part of that.”
Keselowski says he’s received multiple phone calls from various industry members and was pleasantly surprised by the feedback he received on social media since the announcement on Tuesday. He has yet to sign anything for the 2027 season, believing there will be multiple options on the table.
“I’m open to everything,” Keselowski elaborated, admitting that running a full-time season in the Craftsman Truck Series would pique his interest, potentially becoming the first driver to win championships in all three national touring series. “I’m going to look at the best opportunity that comes at me and then make a decision.”
The 36-time Cup winner hopes to have his immediate future secured in the next two months. He’s not sweating his driving career, believing there is enough interest throughout the sport to find a new home.
As for the legacy Keselowski leaves at RFK, he’s proud of helping transform the organization from a “tier-three team” into one on the cusp of becoming a “tier one” operation within the Ford camp.
“I’m really proud about the things that we’ve done and the people that have been able to work with and see grow and develop and some of the turnaround from the company and team. It’s a thrill of a lifetime to be a part of,” Keselowski said. “You always hate to leave that, lose that, whatever that might be. It is part of life. It’s kind of like leaving high school, but that’s where we’re at.”
Keselowski will start 16th in Sunday’s South Point 400 (5:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
