Well. You really have to hand it to RFK Racing for their outside the box strategy this past weekend at Talladega. For almost as long as I can remember, at least clearly, Talladega and similar tracks end up with teams not really going as fast as they could for one reason or another. Way back in the day it was due to fearless back-flipping circus drivers like Carl Edwards preferring to hang out in the back of the field to try and miss the “BIG ONE” aka, the big wreck. The past few years it has been more about saving fuel. RFK Racing’s Talladega strategy was way different.

“Oh, they’re going!” exclaimed Shane van Gisbergen who had been drafting with the RFK Fords up until they decided to take off. When he said that and I heard his crew chief Stephen Doran tell him he couldn’t go yet, I had the most expected case of deja vu ever. I knew RFK Racing was going to try and pull off what Stewart-Haas Racing managed to do at Talladega once before. SHR had four cars, so it worked a little better. They made sure the race came down to them. Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, and Kevin Harvick mastered the 4 car tandem draft and at one point had lapped the entire field… at TALLADEGA. In 2018, 4 cars were faster than the field. Once NASCAR cut down on that spoiler, I had a sneaking suspicion a team might try this.

In 2026, nearly 8 years later, RFK Racing nearly pulled off the same thing. You have to give them props on their film watching and their willingness to try the same strategy as SHR in 2018 but with only 3 cars.

Eventhough RFK did not win the Strategy Worked

Sure, Kyle Larson ended up with his first drafting track victory. Yes, it is true, Kyle Larson still drives for Hendrick Motorsports. Still the strategy worked. The field needed to react immediately. Yet, just like in 2018, by the time the field figured out what they were doing it was too late. The field had to stick with their fuel saving strategy. Only moments after SVG told his team that the RFK Racing cars were going, his team was telling him to switch to the top lane, as the bottom lane drove away from him (and the rest of the field).

Shake and Bake time indeed! Not sure if the reference was intentional on Chris Buescher’s part or not. Well, I know the Talladega Nights reference was intentional, but Stewart-Haas Racing was the last team to run Talladega Nights paint schemes. Also, Stewart-Haas Racing was the last organization to try what Buescher and his teammates did this past weekend at Talladega. To heck with the safe riding in the back or fuel saving, let’s leave the field behind. It was a beautiful strategy.

I don’t say it was a beautiful strategy simply because my old favorite team once did it. I say that this was a beautiful strategy, because it is everything that Talladega is supposed to be! Talladega isn’t supposed to be about fuel mileage. It’s about pure speed. If it were up to me, they’d let them have a full 1000 HP at Talladega without any tapered spacers or restrictor plates of any kind! Other teams will now consider this strategy as an option. Sometimes when NASCAR doesn’t hear the fans, even the majority of the drivers in the field don’t hear the fans either.

RFK Racing heard the fans. Their Talladega strategy proved it. BRAVO RFK Racing!

It’s really a shame that Brad Keselowski is supposed to be leaving.