NEWTON, Iowa — Brad Keselowski is coming off of his best performance of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Keselowski captured two stage wins and finished third after leading 68 of 350 laps but he wasn’t as happy as you’d expect him to be.
Photo: Ryan Kemna / TRE
“We had an opportunity to win today. It didn’t go our way” Keselowski said, dejected.
Being 121 points away from the current playoff cutline, with three races left until the playoffs, a top-five finish doesn’t cut it.
Despite the discontented attitude Keselowski showed with racer hat on, he had a self-assured and somewhat-optimistic outlook with the owner hat on.
“We’re really solid. RFK as a whole is very relevant right now but we need wins,” Keselowski told TRE.
As they did at Indianapolis, RFK Racing placed two entries inside the top-five with Ryan Preece finishing fifth at Iowa. It’s the first time Roush has placed two entries in the top-five in back-to-back weeks since Texas and Kansas in April 2012.
Although Keselowski is far away from the cutline and needs a win to get into the playoffs, Preece and Chris Buescher are right on the cutline. Buescher leads Preece by 23 points for the final playoff spot.
Photos: Ryan Kemna/TRE
“We’re going to race the hell out of each other but respect each other at the same time,” Preece said. “The nice part about RFK is we’re and open book. We’re here to try and help each other to go for it week in and out.”
The next round in their playoff fight is Aug. 10 at Watkins Glen. Buescher is the defending winner.
Ryan Kemna is a photojournalist for The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2025.
Currently residing in the Minneapolis, MN, area, Kemna brings his passion for motorsports, photography, and a good story to readers.