Brad Keselowski has spent the last five years building RFK Racing from both sides of the garage, steering the No. 6 Ford on track while helping shape the organization off it. Now, with the storied chapter coming to an end, the former Cup Series champion finds himself facing a very different challenge of figuring out where he fits next in a garage where there are few obvious openings.

With the Cup Series in Las Vegas this weekend for the fifth round of the Chase, much of the media’s attention was on Keselowski, whose split with RFK Racing was announced on September 29, just days after the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas.

“You’re gonna ask about everything happening this week. It’s okay. I’d ask the same questions,” Keselowski told reporters at Las Vegas. “There’s a lot I can’t talk about at this time. It’s got to play out, but it’s been a hell of a ride. I’ve enjoyed everything we’ve gotten to do with RFK, and my career is not over by any means.”

Keselowski joined RFK Racing in 2022 as both a driver and owner, at a time when the team was struggling in the midfield, far from competing for wins. As Head of Competition, he helped transform the way the organization operated, both on the track and in terms of its technical structure. The team began showing signs of progress almost immediately.

Chris Buescher ended RFK’s five-year winless drought in 2022 before adding three more victories the following season. The No. 6 car also returned to Victory Lane for the first time in more than a decade when Keselowski won at Darlington in 2024. The organization had finally found enough stability to expand to a third team, and by 2026, two of its drivers, Buescher and Ryan Preece, had made the Chase.

Keselowski, sadly, wasn’t part of that on-track success. But the 42-year-old has made it clear — as he did in his statement when the departure was announced — that he wants to continue being a NASCAR driver.

So, Homestead, in all likelihood, won’t be the last time Keselowski races in the national series. But with options scarce in the Cup Series, the departing RFK owner could not provide any solid information on what comes next. That said, he did hint that something might be in the works behind the scenes.

“Had a pretty good idea that this was in the works for the last few months,” Keselowski said in the same media availability. “Had a few people reach out before then, and just kind of gathering all the opportunities to see what makes sense.”

Vegas is the fifth race of the Chase. Two RFK Racing Fords are still in the battle, while Keselowski is the only one not competing in the Chase after finishing 18th in a regular season plagued by inconsistency and a difficult recovery from a leg injury he sustained before the campaign began.

So, why was this the time for the Ford team to reveal the major organizational changes coming in 2027? Keselowski confirmed that the timing was simply because he had a five-year deal with RFK Racing, and that deal had come to an end.

It’s the kind of revelation that stems from things going deeply wrong between partners, or so it looks from the outside. Neither party delve into the reasoning. The rumors, however, pointed toward Roush and Fenway wanting Keselowski to focus on the business side of things, and drive the organization’s future as Head of Competition, a job he’s excelled at so far. But Keselowski had other plans.

There were also signs of a rift between Keselowski and Ford. In Illinois last month, for instance, he lashed out on the team radio when Joey Logano’s No. 22 Ford passed him somewhat easily. He sarcastically said he wished Ford considered his No. 6 team good enough to not be given a “sh**box” of an engine.

So, it’s unlikely that the long-time Ford loyalist, driver-turned-owner-driver, will head over to another Ford team. But there is another matter that needs to be sorted out. Having been a part-owner of RFK Racing, the question is whether Keselowski needs to be bought out of his ownership stake in some way.

That is one of the details Keselowski said we’ll have to wait for. He did say in his Las Vegas interview that the air should clear within a few months once all the legalities have been ironed out.

Then, having had a taste of ownership, does the veteran driver want to take a step down and give up ownership dreams? For Keselowski, the answer is a big no. 

“Doubtful, we’ll see,” was his reply to that question. “I can’t answer that right now, but I still love the sport, and I want to be around long after my days of driving are done.”

He’s not willing to give up on ownership, unwilling to be done as a driver just yet, but does a man like Brad Keselowski get worried about his future with all the uncertainty around it?

“Well, any athlete should be worried about their future in a sport that has churned,” Keselowski revealed. “I wouldn’t say I’m not worried, but I like some of the things that have been thrown at me. And I’m waiting on a few more things to be thrown at me. And I think I’m gonna be okay…

“Well, when I’m in a vehicle in Daytona, I’ll be confident of that,” added Keselowski. “Well, right now I think there’s enough interest where I’m not saying I don’t; I’m not sweating it. That’s not true. There’s things that work through. There’s enough interest where I’m confident that I’ll be somewhere next year.”

Just in case he doesn’t find a Cup seat for himself for 2027, Keselowski could still have a record-setting year, should he play his cards right.

In 2010, he won the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (then known as Xfinity Series). In 2012, he won the Cup Series. Should he win the Truck Series, he would become the first driver to win all three tiers of NASCAR.

“Absolutely, and I’m not ready to divulge any of that stuff yet, but that’s something that I’m absolutely interested in,” said Keselowski when asked if he would be open to pursuing that historic feat. “But that’s not my only interest, so we’ll see what plays out.”

Keselowski still wants to drive, he still wants to be an owner, and he also has dreams of creating history. But for more answers to surface, Keselowski believes it could be a few months before his entire picture is clear for 2027 and beyond.