RFK Racing fuels speculation on possible third car after setting ‘major announcement’ for next week

It is the offseason but that doesn’t mean that the news cycle ends in the NASCAR Cup Series. RFK Racing has an announcement coming. Could it be the third Cup Series team that has been rumored for months?

RFK Racing wants to expand. Brad Keselowski has expressed his interest in expanding to a three-car operation. There is also interest in starting an IMSA team and perhaps even developing drivers through that system rather than a Truck or Xfinity Series team.

The Cup Series organization released an announcement teasing an upcoming announcement. That is set for Tuesday, according to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports.

The details from Pockrass make it sound like this could be about the new team/driver announcement and the official partnership with Kroger. While JTG Daugherty is missing out on the major sponsorship from the grocery chain, RFK is keeping them in NASCAR.

So, who is the new driver going to be? Don’t expect it to be anyone else but Ryan Preece. Preece has a previous relationship with Kroger from his JTG days, alongside Chris Buescher.

We know that Preece has talent. He is a winner in rare starts in the Xfinity and Truck Series. He is a NASCAR Whelen Modified champion as well.

The last two years at Stewart-Haas Racing were not the best. Then again, he showed up to a sinking ship and was trying to bail out water.

How is RFK Racing going to expand?

So, there is a lot of complicated stuff going on with charters. We know that Stewart-Haas has sold or is in the process of selling three charters each. Trackhouse, Front Row, and 23XI Racing will all receive another charter. (Let’s just forget about the lawsuit for a second.)

Where is RFK Racing going to get a third charter? Well, if you remember, last year Rick Ware Racing moved into the RFK shop. Those teams have a strong alliance that showed a visible improvement for RWR throughout the season.

RWR has two charters. Those charters have been at the bottom of the points standings for multiple years in a row. Rick Ware can lease a charter to RFK Racing, that charter would get a boost in points more than likely and it would keep NASCAR from repossessing the charters for lack of competition.

NASCAR has a clause in the charter agreement about performance. If a chartered team performs in the bottom three in points for three consecutive years, they are allowed to take that charter and sell it to another team. NASCAR wants teams to at least make a conscious effort to improve their performance.

The alliance with RFK Racing is part of that effort. If they end up leasing a charter from Rick Ware, that is also showing NASCAR the intent to improve the performance of that charter and avoid repossession.