Preece 9th, Buescher 15th & Keselowski 17th
HAMPTON, GA (February 22, 2026) – Hotlanta was anything but on Sunday afternoon, still Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing found ways to heat things up. Brad Keselowski led four times while battling near the front of the field. Chris Buescher threaded his way through traffic and late-race chaos to bring home a solid finish, and Ryan Preece surged late to secure a top-10 finish.
Ryan Preece #60 Kroger/Red Baron Ford Mustang
Hunger and determination once again defined Ryan Preece’s day. From the drop of the green flag, there were challenges. Challenges that Preece and the Kroger/Red Baron team overcame. With ambient temperatures in the 40s, Preece initially searched for overall grip on the cold track. Still, there was confidence, knowing he had a solid Ford Mustang. Preece persevered through the first stage, understanding and communicating to crew chief Derrick Finley what he needed as the race wore on.
The second stage marked a clear shift in momentum after the team made significant adjustments during the stage break. Restarting 28th with improved balance, Preece steadily moved forward. He climbed to 15th by Lap 100 but wasn’t done yet. Clearly one of the fastest cars on the track, Preece powered to the outside lane in the stage’s closing laps, surging to a strong seventh-place stage finish.
Before stage three began, you could hear in Preece’s voice that a spark had been ignited. “These moves feel like iRacing,” he said. “Turn the fun meter up!”
Carrying that speed into the final stage, Preece restarted inside the top five following a lightning-fast pit stop during the break. As racing resumed, the intensity increased. The pack tightened, but Preece remained loose and focused. A series of late cautions set up a dramatic overtime sequence, where Preece rose to the occasion. Clinching the wheel tight, he navigated the draft in the closing laps to finish ninth.
“We made some adjustments and our Kroger/Red Baron Ford Mustang Dark Horse drove way better,” said Preece. “I think moving forward, when we come back here to Atlanta, I’ll feel way more confident, and I think we can have quite a bit more success.”
Chris Buescher #17 Body Guard Ford Mustang
Fresh off his seventh-place Daytona 500 finish, Chris Buescher came to EchoPark Speedway looking to maintain momentum. To do so, he would need to avoid near collisions and manage obstacles. Challenges he accepted and faced early. Searching for grip in stage one, Buescher found himself managing the cold but ultra-fast speedway without the ability to run the outside groove. The Body Guard team, though, was up for the task and made adjustments.
As stage two began, the No. 17 Ford Mustang restarted 19th, and it wasn’t long before Buescher noticed a difference. Changes crew chief Scott Graves called for had provided more stability and an opportunity to run a more diverse set of lines around the track. The high line that Buescher wasn’t able to run in stage one was now an area of strength. Despite caution periods disrupting momentum, Buescher climbed to a 17th-place stage finish.
Unsatisfied, Graves and Buescher used a bold two-tire strategy between stages to gain track position. The call vaulted the Body Guard Ford Mustang into the top five to start the final segment. More obstacles, though, needed to be faced when Buescher was nearly collected in a multi-car crash. With little to no damage, Buescher raced on. Multiple late cautions set up an overtime showdown where Buescher navigated traffic and the draft’s intensity, ultimately bringing the No. 17 Ford home with a hard-earned 15th-place finish.
“We kind of survived it and got the handling a little bit better, especially as nighttime came, and just wasn’t able to move our lane there at the end, and I got bottled up on the bottom,” said Buescher. “It should have been a lot better.”
Brad Keselowski #6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang
In only his second race back after breaking his femur in the offseason, Brad Keselowski continued to show strength behind the wheel. Like Daytona a week ago, you would never know he was returning from injury. The two-time EchoPark Speedway winner looked primed for win number three as he rocketed from the fifth starting position into the lead by Lap 24. As the run progressed, though, the balance began to shift, forcing Keselowski to surrender track position late, but the early laps made clear the BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang was strong.
Working to dial the car in, crew chief Jeremy Bullins made calculated adjustments with an eye toward giving Keselowski the feel he had at the beginning of the race, and a feel that would last throughout a full run. Those tweaks paid dividends. As the stage unfolded, Keselowski climbed the leaderboard. Capitalizing on restarts and strong drafting help, he surged forward in the closing laps, turning a mid-pack restart to begin the stage into a ninth-place stage finish that reestablished him as a factor.
Lining up fourth to start the final stage alongside his RFK Racing teammates Preece and Buescher, Keselowski quickly returned to the fight for the lead, even grabbing the top spot briefly before the draft reshuffled the order. Undeterred, he remained aggressive, slicing through the pack and challenging for the lead again with 40 laps remaining. Strategic calls to stay out and maintain track position kept him in contention deep into the closing stretch, where multiple cautions created a tense, overtime-filled finish. Though late chaos ultimately left Keselowski with a 17th-place result, his race was defined by speed.
“It was an up-and-down day,” said Keselowski. “It didn’t end great, but there were times we had a lot of speed. We were just missing a little bit of handling to keep it there at the end.”
Up Next:
Circuit of The Americas “COTA” (Austin, TX)
The NASCAR Cup Series – Sunday, March 1 at 3:30pm EST on FOX Sports
About RFK Racing
RFK Racing, in its 39th season in 2026, features an ownership lineup pairing one of the sport’s most iconic names, Jack Roush, along with NASCAR Champion, Brad Keselowski, and Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry. Roush initially founded the team in 1988 and it has since become one of the most successful racing operations in the world, propelling him to be the first NASCAR owner to amass three hundred wins and capturing eight championships, including back-to-back NASCAR Cup titles in 2003 and 2004. Keselowski, a former owner in the NASCAR Truck Series, is the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. In 2007, Roush partnered with Henry, who also owns Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, English Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, to form Roush Fenway Racing. Off the track, RFK is a leader and proven winner in NASCAR marketing solutions, having produced multiple award-winning social media, digital content and experiential marketing campaigns. Visit https://www.rfkracing.com/ and follow the team on all social platforms @rfkracing.
