What’s Happening?

On Tuesday, Stewart-Haas Racing announced that it would shut down following the 2024 season, and thoughts soon turned to what it could do with its fourth charter. One team that came to many’s minds was RFK Racing, which is interested in expanding. However, recent comments from Brad Keselowski have quieted those rumors. Why would RFK Racing be interested in buying a charter in the first place?

• Brad Keselowski first expressed interest in expanding late in the 2023 season. This was a big year for RFK, as they put multiple cars into the Playoffs for the first time since 2014 (Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle).
• While RFK Racing is considering expanding, Keselowski mentioned that the big hurdle is the cost. If this year is not the year, when could RFK Racing take another look at expansion?
• Fans want to see RFK Racing expand because the team has greatly improved. However, moves like this are more complicated than they seem.

What Keselowski Has Said About Expanding

Brad Keselowski first discussed expanding during a press conference during the weekend of the 2023 Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan, a race RFK Racing went on to win with Chris Buescher. While Keselowski was interested, it wouldn’t be coming anytime soon.

Brad Keselowski would like to expand RFK Racing to three cars, but he doesn’t see it in 2024. pic.twitter.com/yf4ta9egb0

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 6, 2023

I think we definitely would like to [expand to three cars]. It’s easier said than done.

Brad Keselowski

The rest of what Keselowski said primarily relates to the 2023 context, but, he has publicly admitted that he wants to expand. His primary reason for not expanding in that clip was that teams were not as willing to sell charters in 2023, but times have changed. With Stewart-Haas Racing shutting down at the end of the season, four charters are on the market, and only three are reportedly accounted for according to Bob Pockrass.

However, remember what Keselowski noted about it not being as easy as it seems. He responded on social media to a fan who wanted to see RFK Racing expand, saying he’s “$30 million short” of buying a third charter for RFK Racing.

I’m 30m short at the moment.

Friends say we should start a GoFundMe 🤷🏼 https://t.co/op0y5o5UYc

— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) May 28, 2024

Things can change, and there is still a long time left in the season and in 2024 as a calendar year. However, RFK Racing’s expansion seems very unlikely at the moment. Why would RFK Racing be interested in this anyway?

Why Would RFK Racing Want to Expand?

RFK Racing’s desire to expand to three cars comes at an interesting time. Last week, Jordan Bianchi reported that NASCAR was considering limiting teams to only three charters when the new potential charter agreement goes into effect in 2025.

Should this requirement go into effect, expanding to three teams could put RFK at the limit of what NASCAR allows.

RFK wants more teams because it means more data points and more information to use to improve. Adding an extra team also means more revenue from sponsors and race earnings, but, that’s also against the added cost of running an additional team.

Multi-car teams dominate the sport. The last single-car team to win a Cup Series Championship was Richard Childress Racing with Dale Earnhardt in 1994. Since 2006, only twice has a two-car team won a Driver’s Championship: Tony Stewart in 2011 with Stewart-Haas Racing and Martin Truex Jr. with Furniture Row Racing in 2017. Even then, both teams had extensive support from powerhouse teams Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing, respectively/

While having more cars does not, on its own, equate to more success, multiple cars have been proven to provide the most optimal way to achieve it. That’s why RFK Racing wants more cars, but they probably won’t have a third car for a while.

What are your thoughts on this? Let us know on Discord or X, and don’t forget you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and even YouTube.