How Ford is performing in 2026 has now become quite impossible to ignore. But as criticism surrounds the manufacturer, RFK Racing now seems to be emerging as a team worthy of respect throughout the garage, with expert opinions dropping from Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, and Mike Joy.

Kevin Harvick was the first to point that out. “We’re starting to see a little bit of a resurgence out of the Ford camp, and it’s not with Penske.” This was met with an immediate response from Clint Bowyer, “Not Penske, yeah. You know, it’s RFK, Mike.”

Mike Joy then made no mistakes but directly pointed at the man who made all the changes. “Brad Keselowski, since he has come in there as a part-owner, has really, really turned that ship around.”

Joy then went on to praise Chris Buescher, calling him “probably the most overlooked talent in the garage area,” before adding, “Not flashy, but he’s always there. He’s a top-10 driver.”

The biggest praise of the entire night, however, came from Harvick, who wanted to narrow down the reason as to why RFK was outperforming. “The team chemistry on that team is so good between those three drivers,” he said.

“The way that they communicate and talk and are able to even socialize together is not normal on a race team.” Harvick then added his final conclusion, “They’re really just grinding things out and getting the finishes that they probably overachieve on a weekly basis.”

The conclusive remarks came from Bowyer, who revealed Keselowski’s obsession with fixing minute details. He recalled Brad saying, “My pit crew s****. I gotta overhaul my pit crews,” while “diligently taking notes,” studying crews across pit road.

And it is this exact due diligence that seems to be turning the season around for RFK. Let’s, in fact, take a look at the latest results to better make this argument.

RFK’s quiet turnaround in the midst of the 26' season

RFK’s 2026 season seems to be catching up in speed just at the right time. Ryan Preece opened the year by winning the Cook Out Clash, while Chris Buescher has consistently remained in top-10 contention throughout the season.

Race-winning speed was also felt by the team at Darlington, where Brad Keselowski led for a massive 142 laps as RFK briefly ran one-two-three during the event.

These records got better at Kansas when RFK managed to place all their cars inside the top 11, showcasing that finally, they had found consistency and that their pit stop times were improving.

Even more importantly, RFK is outperforming Ford's peers, including Penske and Front Row Motorsports, who seem to be struggling this season. After all, someone at least seems to have tamed the wild horse.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Uday Jakhar

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason