RFK RACING
NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Date: August 23, 2026
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1 mile oval) – Loudon, NH
Format: 301 miles / 301 laps with three stages. Stage 1: Ends at lap 70, Stage 2: Ends at lap 185, Stage 3: Ends at lap 301
RFK Racing RACE SUMMARY:
With the regular season winding down, and Chase implications on the line, Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing turned up the intensity in New Hampshire. It was a day that helped punch Chris Buescher’s ticket to the Chase and moved Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski closer to the cutline heading into next week’s regular season finale’ at Daytona. Among the highlights was stage two, when all three RFK cars earned stage points with top ten finishes. Leading the way on the afternoon was native New Englander, Preece, who led 17 laps and finished 9th. Keselowski battled from his 25th starting spot to finish 11th. Buescher finished 18th and in doing so became championship eligible, clinching a Chase berth.
DRIVER HIGHLIGHTS
Ryan Preece – No. 60 Mohawk Northeast, Inc. Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Finish: 9th
Start: 18th
Laps Led: 17
Stage Results: S1- 8th, S2-4th
Headline takeaway: Preece put on a show for his home track fans, leading 17 laps and contending for the win. His 9th place finish was his sixth top ten finish of the season and moved him with 31 points of the Chase cutline.
Preece Quote: “Before that Caution came out and the last set of tires went on I felt like we were going to battle for the win. It was a lot of fun. I had fun racing and moving around. That was a great time and it was fun to be part of that race,” said Preece. “From a points perspective, we have a chance, a hail mary chance, but the Owner’s Chase we have a real chance so we’re going to race hard next week.”
Brad Keselowski – No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Finish: 11th
Start: 25th
Laps Led:
Stage Results: S1-19th, S2 – 6th
Headline takeaway: Keselowski charged forward from 25th, turned some of the fastest laps in the field during the middle of the race and came up just one spot short of a top 10 finish in 11th.
Keselowski Quote: “We’re hungry for a win but we just needed a little bit more. Happy that we were competitive, got some stage points, and were able to climb a long ways from where we started the race. Looking forward to going to Daytona, where we were really fast in February.”
Chris Buescher – No. 17 Trimble Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Finish: 18th
Start: 16th
Laps Led: —
Stage Results: S1-30th, S2-7th
Headline takeaway: Buescher officially qualified for the 2026 Chase. His day was one of overcoming an early setback, where he made slight contact with a car that spun in front of him. Buescher rallied back to score stage points and finish 18th; enough to secure his place in this season’s Chase.
Buescher Quote: “To be able to make the Chase is a big deal. Happy about that for sure,” said Buescher. “As for today, we had some highlights and some tough luck to start. But we ended up off sequence and we made it work. Had some used tires there at the end and it was a bit hard to go on the restarts.”
Point Standings:
Buescher: 10th *Clinched Chase Berth
Preece: 17th
Keselowski: 18th
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is August 29 at Daytona International Speedway (2.5 Mile high-banked Super Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL). The race begins at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC Sports and the Motor Racing Network.
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.
