By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
HAMPTON, Ga. — Brad Keselowski says the culture has improved at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing since he became a co-owner of the organization in the offseason.
What about the results? When will they come? When will a season with 20th-place finishes become unacceptable? After all, Keselowski’s average finish of 20th this year is his worst since his first full-time Cup season in 2010.
“I don’t have a crystal ball for that one,” the 2012 Cup champion said. “What I want to see is growth and progress.
“And I’m more concerned with growth and progress than I am a stat.”
Brad Keselowski on RFK’s team culture
Brad Keselowski believes the culture at RFK Racing is changing as he looks to improve the team moving forward.
Keselowski has typically been fairly blunt in assessments of his performance, whether that’s a car he’s driving or the truck series team he owned. He left Team Penske after last season in part because he wanted more control of how the team he drives for operates on the competition side. He got that control when he bought into Roush Fenway Racing, with which his investment increases over time.
He knew when he joined that the organization was in dire need of a boost. Chris Buescher finished 19th in the standings last year; Ryan Newman was 28th. The organization has not won a race since 2017.
Some might’ve had high expectations for a quick boost from Keselowski, who has won 35 races in his Cup career. But there has been little to cheer about since Daytona, where both Keselowski and Buescher won their qualifying races.
Keselowski would be 23rd in the standings if not for a 100-point penalty for a technical violation that has him 33rd. Buescher is 23rd in the standings and probably would be 22nd if he hadn’t missed a race due to COVID-19.
“I see a lot of progress being made behind the scenes that hasn’t made it to the track,” Keselowski said. “And so I’m proud and excited of things to come. But certainly, I want all of it to come right away.
“There’s a drive and a push to not accept that it’s not here right now. And that is probably in stark contrast to a level of realism that says that this is not a flip of a switch.”
While that is true, Keselowski can’t ignore that two organizations that many would’ve considered midpack a year ago have made strides with the debut of the Next Gen car.
Trackhouse Racing bought Chip Ganassi Racing and has become a championship contender, with both its drivers already posting wins this year. Richard Childress Racing also has shown improvement, including a win with Tyler Reddick earlier this month at Road America.
Because of their struggles, RFK was last on the Ford list of teams when it came to tire tests, and Keselowski believes that once they get more, that could change.
“We’ve made big gains on the road-course program, no doubt, [and] looking at that side of it, we had our test at Watkins Glen … [and] that really picked up our road-course program,” Keselowski said. “And I would say we’re some of the best cars at those tracks — certainly top-five cars there.”
The other gains have come off the track, Keselowski said.
“I think the team dynamics, the communication inside the company is making major gains,” Keselowski said. “Our company culture is improving significantly.”
Buescher said that in some ways, they need to ignore what other teams are doing and how fast others are improving.
“In the end, no, you’re not frustrated about other people’s successes,” he said. “It’s more how do [we] make ourselves more successful?
“How do we get ourselves into that conversation quicker, and I’d say that’s more of it is we’ve just got to keep doing a better job in getting there.”
Chris Buescher on team performance so far
Chris Buescher says the RFK team is focusing on itself and its improvement regardless of the progress of other teams.
The reason for the struggles, in Buescher’s view, is how the team approached the Next Gen…
Read More: Brad Keselowski seeing progress, intent on winning with RFK Racing