RFK RACING
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Date: October 4, 2026
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5 mile D-shaped oval) – Las Vegas, NV
Format: 400.5 miles / 267 laps with three stages. Stage 1: Ends at lap 80, Stage 2: Ends at lap 165, Stage 3: Ends at lap 267
RFK RACING RACE SUMMARY: With his best points day of the 2026 Chase, Chris Buescher led Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing in Las Vegas on Sunday. The Prosper, TX native was able to parlay a solid starting position into stage points in the race’s second segment before finishing 13th. Three time Las Vegas winner Brad Keselowsi, started the day displaying speed, climbing as high as seventh, early in Stage Two. Handling challenges though were difficult, resulting in a 24th place finish. Ryan Preece, who had scored top-10 finishes in three of the prior four Chase races, encountered a setback when he developed a wheel vibration during Stage Two. Using pit strategy the team and Preece briefly regained lost track position but ultimately finished 28th.
DRIVER HIGHLIGHTS
Chris Buescher – No. 17 Castrol Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Finish:13th
Start: 14th
Laps Led: —
Stage Results: S1-11th, S2-9th
Headline takeaway: 13 is a number most people avoid in Las Vegas but Chris Buescher was happy to have it Sunday. His 13th place finish was his best of the 2026 Chase and reason for optimism heading into the Chase’s second half.
Buescher Quote: “It’s a decent day. Pretty solid execution, everybody did a good job throughout the day. We were hoping to be a little further up and we got there at times but not a bad day for our Castrol Ford Mustang. We got a decent day out of it. Certainly we’re looking for top-10’s and wins but after the last couple weeks we can take this as a little step in the right direction.”
Brad Keselowski – No. 6 Consumer Cellular Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Finish: 24th
Start: 16th
Laps Led: —
Stage Results: S1-16th, S2-18th
Headline takeaway: In just his second race with recently appointed crew chief Mike Skarbowski, Brad Keselowski showed promise early, turning competitive lap times and having the ability to run multiple grooves. At times he ran inside the top-10 but as the laps wound down on a scorching hot desert day, Keselowski dropped to 24th.
Keselowski Quote: “We started off the day ok. We were running as high as 7th in Stage Two and felt good. But it’s a long race and the conditions were changing and then we just faded.”
Ryan Preece – No. 60 Smith’s / TreeTop Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Finish: 28th
Start: 12th
Laps Led: —
Stage Results: S1-21st, S2-28th
Headline takeaway: Despite a wheel issue that threatened to ruin Ryan Preece’s day early, he and the 60 team battled on Sunday. A fuel strategy play in Stage Two, running long while most others pitted, helped temporarily gain back a chunk of track position. Sustaining that though was difficult and Preece was forced to settle for a 28th place finish.
Preece Quote: “We were running pretty well until we had a vibration in the left rear during the first stage. I really thought I had a tire going down. We used some strategy to come back from that but it was tough to overcome. The car was good at the end but there were some challenges along the way.
Point Standings:
Buescher: 15th
Preece: 16th
Keselowski: 18th
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is October 11 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5 Mile D-shaped oval – Charlotte, NC). The race begins at 3:00 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA Sports and the Performance 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 and English Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., 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.
