Rare accomplishment at Iowa shows RFK Racing is heading in right direction

It was a bittersweet result for Keselowski, who swept the two stages and led 68 laps. It has been a rough season overall for the veteran with six DNFs. Despite sitting outside the top 30 in points for most of the season, Keselowski now finds himself 21st in the playoff standings after back-to-back top-fives at Indianapolis and Iowa.

Preece's fifth-place finish was more of a blue-collar day at Iowa after he ran near the back of the field for much of the early going. The short track ace is having a breakout season with 10 top 10s. His consecutive top-five runs have him sitting only 23 points behind Buescher for the final playoff spot with three regular season races left.

Buescher has had a rocky summer stretch with four finishes of 14th or worse in the last five races, but still holds down the final playoff spot and heads into the next three races at Watkins Glen, Richmond and Daytona as a previous winner at each of them.

When Keselowski took over the organization, he knew it was going to be an uphill climb to get the cars competitive again. After all, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s wins at Talladega and Daytona in 2017 were the last time the organization, then known as Roush Fenway Racing, won a race before Keselowski took over. Now as a three-car operation after adding Preece in the offseason to pilot the No. 60 Ford, RFK Racing continues to show signs of improvement.

Keselowski had arguably the fastest car at Iowa and Preece's ability to rally toward the front shows a team that is as resilient as any in the garage. 

The only downfall for RFK Racing is where its drivers sit in the points. There are only three spots up for grabs to complete the 16-driver field with 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick holding a sizable 122-point edge in 14th.

That leaves Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman (+63) and the RFK teammates Buescher (+23) and Preece (-23) on the cutline, not to mention Keselowski, whose potential win would not only lock himself into the playoffs, but likely knock one of his two drivers out.

It is not an ideal situation for RFK Racing in that regard, but considering where the organization was not that long ago, that is a much better spot to be in and one that continues to show the gains that it has made.