DARLINGTON, S.C. — It may not have been a throwback-heavy weekend, but for a small amount of time, it was all Greg Biffle throwback Fords in the top three.
RFK Racing, donning paint designs of the late Biffle this weekend at Darlington Raceway, were one of the most dominant teams on Sunday, March 22. Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece all swept the top three on laps 128-139.
“[Biffle] crossed my mind too,” Preece told Frontstretch. “It was pretty neat. I wish one of us could have won, but ultimately, it was really neat paint schemes and a great effort by RFK.”
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Additionally, Keselowski led a whopping 142 laps at the 1.33-mile circuit, his personal most since 2024, won both stages and finished second.
“Great day for us,” Keselowski said. “We won two stages, led a lot of laps, scored a bunch of points, so a lot to be proud of.
“I was joking when we walked out of the garage area yesterday night after qualifying that we’re on the right side of the garage area. Our hauler is parked to the right side, and we’re just showing ourselves as a team that’s highly capable.”
The No. 6 Ford was the class of the field for most of the day. After the race’s final caution period, Keselowski had a slow stop on pit road that cost him four positions, forcing him to restart in 11th. Despite that, when the green flag flew again, the RFK Ford took off and reached the top five in only a handful of laps.
Keselowski even overtook the rest of the top five as the green flag run went on to take the lead from Buescher on lap 53. The final pit stop cycle saw Keselowski pit before eventual race winner Tyler Reddick. Reddick, on fresher tires, later ran down the No. 6 to take the lead.
Nevertheless, it was an impressive performance from the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion.
“All three of our RFK cars are executing really well and getting good finishes,” Keselowski said. “With a little bit of pace, we can win these races.”
For Buescher, the story was slightly less triumphant. The No. 17 Ford stayed out on slightly older tires when a caution flag flew after the beginning of the final stage. At the time, it paid off. Buescher led 41 laps — his personal best since Kansas Speedway in the spring of 2024 — before having to relinquish the lead to Keselowski.
But before he did finally turn to reach pit road in the final pit stop cycle of the race, he ran into trouble with Reddick after getting a late call to enter the pit lane.
“At the end of the day, that was trying to make an aggressive call to get pit road,” Buescher said. “Kind of last second, and they were coming through on tires right there with the No. 6. So just a racing deal, and, unfortunately, it just got us pretty good to the point where it knocked the toe out, I’m sure.”
Buescher, who got clobbered by the No. 45 Toyota in turn 3, stayed out an extra lap before actually pitting. It cost him several seconds that he wasn’t able to make up. Buescher finished right outside of the top five in sixth.
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“[I] got back going,” Buescher said. ” Was able to salvage and keep rolling and, man, what an awesome day. Fun to be up there racing with the boss and fighting with this Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang Dark Horse to be in the hunt to win, really.
“I mean there’s nothing but positive to bring out of the day. Really proud of everybody. This was a huge question mark coming into the weekend.”
Then there was Preece.
The No. 60 Ford had a much less eventful day than the rest of his teammates. The Connecticut racer was in the top three momentarily among his RFK brethren before being the first to fall out of the top five.
Unfortunately, he didn’t return there. Preece was outside of the top 15 at one point before the end of the event.
By the end, Preece was mired in traffic and in dirty air. According to the RFK driver, he couldn’t make much happen from then on. He rallied for a 13th-place finish.
“Just no track position,” Preece said. “Dirty air. We’re trying to fix our car to make it more of a long-run car, and it took away our short run. So just the way the cookie crumbled.”
It wasn’t a win for the RFK team, but while donning the Biff’s attire at one of his best performing racetracks, the crowd certainly saw his mark be left on Sunday.
