One final bastion is left to fall. After that, only dust and memories will remain of the four-car and 320 employees Stewart-Haas Racing team. As 2024 enters the postseason with Chase Briscoe giving SHR one last shot at NASCAR glory with the Cook Out Southern 500 victory last weekend, Tony Stewart‘s stellar creation has lost three of its charters already. With the final one up for grabs and 23XI Racing seemingly a potential buyer, it looks like another team has sprung on the radar to operate the rumor mills again.

Ever since news of shuttering descended upon the SHR fold, things have been in chaos. Employees, including drivers themselves, wondered where their future lay. However, one by one, teams roped in the racers: Chase Briscoe would join Joe Gibbs Racing, Noah Gragson to Front Row Motorsports, and Josh Berry would enlist in Wood Brothers Racing.

RFK Racing was another team that lingered around the possibility of getting a third charter. However, according to a NASCAR expert, Brad Keselowski‘s team is taking more than just that from SHR. It certainly looks like RFK Racing, which had to downsize to the current two-car configuration after once fielding five full-time Cup Series teams, is looking to turn its fate once again!

Amidst the realization that SHR drivers have that flame burning within them, Tony Stewart’s last remaining dark horse Ryan Preece is likely to occupy RFK Racing‘s third Cup ride as the team signed a deal with big-ticket team-wide sponsor for all three cars, Kroger—the team’s official statement of which will be likely announced in a few weeks. Valued at $36.78 billion, Kroger is a supermarket chain giant. Journalist Jordan Bianchi updated on X, 

“RFK Racing is progressing toward expanding to three full-time teams in 2025, a move that would likely include bringing aboard big-ticket sponsor Kroger as a team-wide sponsor, and signing driver Ryan Preece, sources briefed on the move told @TheAthletic.” Brad Keselowski, who joined the team formally known as Roush Fenway Racing in 2022 in a driver-owner capacity, told The Athletic on Wednesday during NASCAR playoff media day,

“We don’t have any announcements that we’re ready to make, but hopefully we’ll have something to share with everybody here in the next month or so. But nothing publicly that I’m ready to talk about.” But was this new deal a long time coming? 

Both Ryan Preece and current RFK Racing driver Chris Buescher were once a part of JTG Daughterty Racing, the two full-time teams that were primarily sponsored by Kroger for three and two years respectively. The deal between JTG and Kroger started in 2010, and with it nearing its end this year, Kroger was definitely the most sought-after sponsor this season. Getting Preece to drive for RFK Racing seems to be a master move as this would successfully entail a big sponsor win for the team!

Keselowski had long predicted an expansion but fell short as the teams were still struggling. However, now is as good a timing as any as fate for RFK Racing has convincingly changed. And how? The spring race at Darlington ensured that the 2021 Cup Series champion gets a playoff berth, a race in which he led the final nine laps and saw him capture his first win since Talladega Superspeedway in 2021. His teammate Chris Buescher made it to the playoffs after winning three races in the last season but fell marginally short this time.

As for the 33-year-old, Ryan Preece has had a best finish of third in 177 Cup starts, two top-five finishes at SHR, and has never cracked the playoffs. This year, he ranked as the lowest among SHR drivers, boasting a lone 4th-place finish in Nashville. Despite his bleak prospects, his affiliation with Kroger during his JTG Daugherty stint supports the rumor about joining Keselowski’s fold.

But before Tony Stewart’s final dark horse can focus on 2025, he is focusing on Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Atlanta offers legroom to run well

NASCAR is heading into the reconfigured 1.54-mile oval this week after its spring race there. At the first race, Ryan Preece headed the SHR fold as he secured a 16th-place finish. He also ran two Xfinity races at the track, with his best finish being 7th in 2019. NASCAR revamped the Atlanta track in 2021, increasing the banking, narrowing the track, and covering it with fresh asphalt. Although the objective was to replicate the pack-style racing in Daytona and Talladega, Tony Stewart’s dark horse believes it still feels different.

“They’re different because Atlanta is still a mile-and-a-half, so we’re restricted on horsepower, we’re wide open like a superspeedway, but the runs happen twice as fast. Handling is by far, way more important…Not only that, it’s a lot tighter of a corner at Atlanta,” Preece reasoned in a recent interview.

He also added his buoyant hopes about the No. 14’s run this weekend. “I feel like at Atlanta you can control your destiny a little more. Yeah, you’re going to have track position, but if you have a really good-handling racecar in Atlanta, you’re going to have a good day.”

So Tony Stewart’s stud is ready to tackle the race tracks even after missing the playoffs. Let us wait and see when Brad Keselowski ropes in Preece for the 2025 schedule.