Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing officially confirmed on Tuesday that the Concord, N.C.-based race team will expand to three full-time NASCAR Cup Series cars next season with the addition of Ryan Preece as the driver of the No. 60 Kroger Ford Mustang beginning with the 2025 DAYTONA 500 on February 16, 2025.
In addition to supporting Preece’s effort in Cup, Kroger and nearly 20 brands featured in their iconic stores will also appear on the RFK Racing cars of Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher throughout the 36-race season.
Kroger will shift its long-term partnership with JTG Daugherty Racing to RFK Racing and reunite with Preece, who drove for JTG Daugherty Racing from the 2019 – 2021 Cup seasons.
“We’re thrilled to formally and publicly announce our expansion plans and the next step in our evolution at RFK,” said Steve Newmark, President, RFK Racing. “First, we’d like to thank Kroger and the vision of Tad and Jodi (Geschickter), without which we wouldn’t be in the position of growing with a third car in 2025 and beyond.
“Their commitment to us on behalf of Kroger has not only allowed us to fulfill our growth objectives in ways we’ve long desired but also to continue to push the envelope when it comes to finding the competitive edge needed to compete at the top level of NASCAR.
“Second, Ryan Preece is who we identified from day one when discussing this third entry, and his young talent from the grassroots level all the way up to the Cup Series is something that excites us moving forward.
“On behalf of the entire team at RFK, we can’t wait to roll out the No. 60 with Ryan Preece and our larger Kroger partnership encompassing all three of our Ford Mustangs in 2025.”
Preece will remain in the Ford Performance camp shifting his concentration from the now defunct Stewart-Haas Racing to RFK Racing.
“You look at how many weeks in a row that Brad and Chris finished top two or top three and had some extremely good stats and found Victory Lane, so, for me, it’s a great opportunity – one that’s filled with pressure, but I think if you’ve looked at my career those pressure type situations I’ve succeeded, so I’m grateful for the opportunity,” Preece said.
“Thank you to RFK, Brad, BAM, all these people because it seems like you all in NASCAR can’t get rid of me, so I’m gonna work hard to stay and succeed.”
Kroger has been a primary partner in the NASCAR Cup Series since the 2010 season when it joined JTG Daugherty Racing.
During their tenure together, three wins were amassed, including the 2023 DAYTONA 500 and this year’s second event at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, both with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. behind the wheel.
“The Kroger Racing program and collaboration with participating brands has been a successful staple in Kroger’s portfolio for more than a decade,” said Erin Sanchez, vice president of grocery for Kroger.
“We’re very excited to be teaming up with RFK Racing and know having three drivers as members of the Kroger Racing Family will be an added benefit for all our brand sponsors involved in the program.
“The opportunity to utilize multiple drivers in their marketing strategies both in our stores and within their merchandising initiatives is something we’re all looking forward to with the start of the 2025 season.”
Vendor partners and their brands joining Kroger for their continued Motorsports ventures in 2025 include Kimberly-Clark, Bimbo Bakeries USA, General Mills, Coca-Cola, Oscar Mayer, CELSIUS, Blue Buffalo, Tree Top, Schwan’s Consumer Brands and Allegra.
Announcements regarding the brand joining Kroger on the paint scheme and driver for those events and the season will be made at a later date.
Kroger will not support Preece’s effort entirely. All three entries will have additional support showcased from BuildSubmarines.com, Castrol, Fastenal and several others.
The future of JTG Daugherty Racing is still in flux. Former team principals Tad and Jodi Geschickter are expected to relinquish their primary ownership roles within the team, while Gordon Smith is expected to take over as majority partner.
BAM LLC., owned by Tad and Jodi Geschickter, oversees the Kroger Racing program.
Stenhouse signed an extension with the organization even though rumors surfaced this summer that Kroger was expected to depart. A replacement partner has yet to be announced.
At the same time as the Kroger rumors began to swirl, chatter in the Cup Garage intensified that RFK Racing could lease one of Rick Ware Racing’s charters next season for Preece.
RWR has declined comment on several occasions regarding the lease of one of their two charters for 2025.
However, Newmark confirmed during a press conference on Tuesday morning that they will indeed lease one of RWR’s coveted charters for Preece next season.
“Just to be clear, our vision is that a third car is a permanent state and a permanent condition for RFK, but you still have to navigate the charter landscape, so what we have done at least in the short term is we’ve been fortunate that we have a partnership with Rick Ware Racing, a technical alliance where we’ve been working hand-in-hand with Rick Ware and Robby Benton over the last year to try and elevate the performance of both teams and as part of that going into next year we’ll be leasing one of the Rick Ware charters, still collaborating with that organization to try to again lift both organizations and make sure that we can continue to elevate our game,” Newmark remarked.
“That is the charter we will have for next year and then, obviously, the future will see what that brings.”
RFK Racing confirmed that in addition to Preece contending for the Cup Series championship in 2025, he will also partake in the inaugural The Clash at Bowman-Gray Stadium on February 2, 2025.
The now three-car organization said their crew chief lineup for 2025 will be announced later.
Follow Chris Knight on X (Twitter) @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
