RFK Racing has provided one potential reason why the relationship with driver-owner Brad Keselowski came to a surprising end.
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The team said that the two sides of this arrangement just simply wanted different things when looking at the next few years. RFK Racing wanted Keselowski to focus more on being a competition director instead of trying to balance several different aspects of life.
"When we looked at it, we wanted to make sure organizationally that not only we set ourselves up for near-term success, but really long-term sustainable success," team president Chip Bowers said on Saturday.
"And so when we started looking at what the next three years looked like for us and beyond, it was clear that we wanted Brad to start focusing more on his role in competition. We felt like, as you all know, you look at Chris Gabehart or Chad Knaus, and the list goes on and on and on.
"These are 24/7 jobs. I mean, you have to live, breathe it constantly, and if we want to be in the same conversation as Hendrick Motorsports and Penske Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing, it's going to take that level of commitment, and that's what we're focused on as a company."
Bowers continued and said that Keselowski planned to continue racing for the next five years or so. This did not align with the team's plan.
The timing became a natural endpoint as Keselowski's five-year driver contract ends after the 2026 season. He has been with RFK Racing since the 2022 season.
Additionally, RFK Racing and Keselowski could not reach an agreement on an arrangement that would allow him to remain a co-owner while driving for another team. Bowers noted that this could create potential IP issues.
Yet despite these disagreements ultimately leading to a split, Bowers says that this is not an acrimonious split.
He repeatedly said that RFK Racing supports Keselowski and wants to see him succeed. They do not plan on holding him to any non-competes that would keep him from continuing to race in the Cup Series.
"If Brad would like to go race somewhere else, if Brad would like to be an owner somewhere else, if Brad would like to lead competition somewhere else, he's more than happy to do so," Bowers said.
"There's some things obviously we have to work out that we'll do privately as it relates to his equity, and that may take a little bit of time for all the reasons I talked about — just that there's no conflicts with our OEM or anything like that."
Where do the two sides go from here? Obviously, they will first close out the season while determining exactly how they will finalize this split from an ownership perspective.
After that, Keselowski will continue focusing on his next opportunity. He said on Saturday that he plans on driving next season and that he is open to anything. He also wants to continue serving in an ownership role due to his love of the sport.
The decision will not come anytime soon, based on Keselowski's comments. He put a potential 60-day timeline on a decision as he works through his options.
RFK Racing, however, will focus on acquiring a third charter and finding a driver who can become a teammate to Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece.
Talent agency CAA will handle the driver search for the time being as RFK Racing continues to look for any possible opportunity to acquire a third charter.
"There's not a day that goes by that we're not thinking about it, planning on it," Bowers said. "I don't talk about it publicly because I don't know that that helps our process very much. We're trying to be very strategic around what an acquisition of a third charter means.
"Certainly, it could be just transactional, and I get that. But if there's strategic alliances that could be created, if there's ways that we find better ways to work with people through the addition of a charter, then we should be thinking about that, right?
"So, look, just a matter of days ago, our (ownership) group reiterated to me, we will buy a charter and we will pay for it. We just got to have one for sale, and we got to find the right situation for us."
