'I Just Wasn’t Quite Fast Enough': Brad Keselowski Rues Yet Another Missed Opportunity to Break Winless Streak

Victories have been hard to come by for Brad Keselowski and his No. 6 RFK Racing team lately. Over the last four seasons, or more accurately, since Keselowski joined the team as a co-owner, they have won just one race. At Phoenix on Sunday, there was a golden opportunity to improve that underwhelming tally, but fate had other plans, and the winless streak continued.

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney made a last-lap pass on Keselowski after the overtime restart that defined the race and ultimately crossed the checkered flag 0.097 seconds ahead of him. The 2012 champion was understandably frustrated with the outcome. However, he maintained his grace speaking to the press post the race and detailed how the near-miss is something his team has encountered all season.

“It’s kind of the story of our season,” began Keselowski. “We’re just needing a little bit of speed, trying to put ourselves in position. We were in position as well as we could.”

“I just wasn’t quite fast enough. Another second place. I felt like we were in a good position, but the No. 5 [Kyle Larson] and the No. 12 [Ryan Blaney] were just stupid fast. That’s what we had.”

The runner-up finish was Keselowski‘s sixth top-5 result of the 2025 season. Having finished twice as the runner-up already, in Atlanta and in Bristol, his reaction to Sunday is highly valid. RFK Racing struggled to find that one missing piece to reach victory lane throughout the season. Notably, Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece have ended the season without a single win as well.

Keselowski reminds everyone about what makes NASCAR great

In the final restart, many chose to change two tires, and others chose to change all four tires. Some, including Keselowski, decided to stay out. He was asked about this decision and the reason for the high number of tire failures by Frontstretch. He replied, “We just stayed out on the tires. Made a gamble. Almost paid off.”

“Everybody was just pushing the limits. The drivers, the teams. That’s what makes this sport great.”

With Blaney ending up as the winner, Kyle Larson finished in third place and clinched the 2025 Cup Series title. Denny Hamlin, who was one of the most dominant drivers of the day, finished in a heartbreaking sixth place.

Preece finished in ninth place, with Buescher bringing his No. 17 Ford Mustang home in 12th place. RFK Racing now heads into the offseason with the relentless goal of making a stark turnaround in 2026.