DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 11: Brad Keselowski 6 RFK Racing Castrol Ford is being interviewed during Media Day for the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Daytona 500 on February 11, 2026 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, FL. Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire AUTO: FEB 11 NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 Media Day EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon2602110359500

Feb 21, 2026, 5:18 PM CUT

Brad Keselowski Faces $100M Crisis as RFK Racing Risks Losing Third Car

While Ryan Preece kicked things off with a win for RFK Racing, things are looking tough for the team. Behind the scenes, co-owner Brad Keselowski is navigating a web of charter problems that will define the team's future. And according to one insider, it won't come cheap.

In an interview with insider Adam Stern, the host raised the question, "RFK only has two charters next year, with Legacy taking one of the two RWR charters they've been leasing. What will RFK do here?”

RFK Racing right now has three cars in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series, out of which they own the charters of Brad Keselowski's and Chris Buescher’s cars, but lease Ryan Preece's No. 60 from Rick Ware Racing (RWR).

And in September 2025, the lawsuit between Legacy Motors Club and Rick Ware Racing was settled, with RWR agreeing that they will sell one of their charters to LMC. That's why RFK now faces a dilemma.

“No, it's a good question. That was kind of always the thing that we didn't know the answer to when they added that third car. I'd say we still don't know the answer, but look, charters are very expensive at this point... Now, does RFK have the means and funds to try and acquire another charter? Yes, but at this point, you gotta pay probably over a hundred million to get a charter."

Since teams don't own a stake in NASCAR itself, they need these charters to race. And estimates from December back up what Stern said. In fact, at the time, according to the scenario Dale Jr. discussed, they could even go up to $150 million.

What Can Brad Keselowski and RFK Do?

RWR’s two-year lease with RFK gives relief to the No. 60 2026 arrangement, but RWR plans to reclaim that charter afterward for itself while selling the other, which will likely be No. 51, to LMC, which later will be a problem for RFK.

Stern stressed the scale: “It’s gonna take a big commitment from RFK if they wanna get that third charter permanently. Otherwise, I guess they’ll have to go back down to two cars.”

In the future, RFK will likely look to acquire a charter from JTG Daugherty’s No. 47 or Haas Factory Team's No. 41.

Written by

Kaamna Dwivedi

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar