Matt Johnson
The biggest focus of the NASCAR silly season is on drivers who could land with new teams. However, another massive domino that will fall this offseason is what happens with the three chartered cars at RFK Racing.
RFK is currently a three-car team—Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece—with all three in the mix to make The Chase this season. However, all three drivers are on expiring contracts, and the team only has two charters for the 2027 Cup Series season.
Related: RFK Racing Driver Has Interest from Multiple Teams
On the latest episode of The Gluckcast, RFK Racing president Chip Bowers that the team will run three full-time cars in the Cup Series next season regardless of charter status. However, if a charter can’t be acquired, they’ll run one Open car next year.
It’s going to be very costly in one way or another. RFK’s lease for the charter owned by Rick Ware Racing is expiring, with Legacy Motor Club taking control of it. That leaves RFK in a difficult position where it has to hope both that a charter is available and that a price can be worked out with another Cup team.
If they can’t acquire one, keeping a competitive driver in that third seat will be difficult. Either Buescher or Preece could opt to sign with a team that would guarantee them a chartered ride, meaning a higher payout for each race. That scenario is why, if there is an Open car in 2027, the driver would likely be Keselowski since he’s already the team co-owner.
Related: Cup Series Charter Reportedly Up for Sale
Fortunately, there is expected to be a charter up for sale this offseason. While it’s not verified which specific team is open-minded to leasing its charter, that does offer RFK a path to run three full-time drivers next season with maximum earnings potential and automatic qualification for every race.
RFK’s guarantee does mean that there will be another three-car Cup Series team next season, with LMC adding a third car and RFK likely maintaining its current lineup. While that might come at the expense of one of the smaller teams, that team could wind up benefiting from the financial windfall of selling that charter and investing that money into a lower series.
Related: Insider Reveals Potential Cost of NASCAR Cup Charter
