Turning Point: Is Brad Keselowski the next driver to score on Father Time?

Here’s what’s happening in the world of NASCAR with Martinsville Speedway in the rearview and Darlington Raceway (Sun., 3 p.m. ET, FS1) up next.

THE LINEUP

1️⃣ Is Brad Keselowski the next driver to score on Father Time?

2️⃣ Darlington set to bring the drama in retro classic

3️⃣ Throwback: Keselowski on ‘freakin’ awesome’ Darlington skid-snapper

4️⃣ Denny doesn’t make his crew chiefs wait long

5️⃣ Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage

1. Is Brad Keselowski the next driver to score on Father Time?

The RFK Racing driver/co-owner is enjoying watching the success of his fellow teammates but has lagged so far to start 2025, with the 2012 champ currently sitting 30th in the standings after seven races. Is a turnaround coming for the 41-year-old?

After witnessing 44-year-old Denny Hamlin turn back the clock and turn in a vintage masterpiece at Martinsville Speedway, could there be another driver set to climb victory mountain — or is he just over the hill?

Brad Keselowski‘s 2025 season has thus far been one of frustration and unmet expectations, seeing both of his teammates — and, as their team co-owner, employees — look strong early on while he‘s barely holding onto a top-30 position in the Cup Series standings. With the series heading to Darlington Raceway for Sunday‘s Goodyear 400, however, the veteran driver may find himself on the brink of a breakthrough.

In an era so focused on younger talent emerging sooner and sooner (hello, Connor Zilisch), Hamlin reminded the racing world on Sunday that age and experience can still triumph in a sport increasingly dominated by wunderkinder.

Keselowski‘s struggles this season have been well-documented. Through seven races, the 2012 Cup champion has yet to record a top-10 finish or lead a single lap, both unprecedented lows for the perennial contender. His average finish of 25.1 is on track to be easily the worst of his career. The No. 6 team‘s lack of speed has been glaring, with Keselowski‘s average starting position of 25.0 ranking among the lowest in the field, and he‘s exactly 25th in speed for the season per NASCAR Insights.

Yet, Darlington offers Keselowski a prime opportunity to turn his season around.

MORE: Full Darlington weekend schedule | Cup Series entry list

RFK has proven formidable at the “Lady in Black” of late and No. 6 enters, believe it or not, as the defending winner of the race, having snapped a cold streak of 111 winless races last spring. Keselowski‘s 11.05 average finish at Darlington, one of NASCAR‘s most notoriously difficult tracks, is the sixth-best … ever. Naturally, he enters Sunday amid yet another drought, with that victory standing as his lone win since 2021.

This is not to say that I‘m calling Kes‘ shot for him and predicting that a driver who hasn‘t sniffed a solid run will, out-of-nowhere, win one of the sport‘s hardest races (though I sure wouldn‘t rule it out), but more so that it feels like the spot where he‘ll turn the corner and start putting the pieces together, with more strong tracks ahead for him.

After Darlington, the series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, where Keselowski‘s win count between the two is nearly in double-digits at nine total. This stretch mirrors the part of last season when he hit his stride, with a P3 at Bristol and runner-up at Talladega (and Texas! and then Charlotte!) hopping on alongside his Darlington win.

History suggests that veteran drivers often find ways to shine at this point in the schedule; nine drivers have snapped winless streaks of 50 or more races at Darlington alone, and his isn‘t quite that long this time around. Hamlin‘s win at Martinsville ended a 31-race drought of his own and proved that even in their 40s, NASCAR‘s elder statesmen can still deliver when it matters most. The question now is whether he can follow Hamlin‘s lead.

Everyone knows that Father Time is undefeated in the long run — but that doesn‘t mean he can‘t be scored upon, and we just saw Hamlin put points on the board.

They each know he‘ll come for them eventually, but Keselowski may be poised to remind everyone that sometimes, just sometimes, Father Time can be made to wait just a little longer.

2. Darlington set to bring the drama in retro classic

As NASCAR‘s oldest superspeedway gears up for Throwback Weekend, chaos, redemption and unpredictable finishes await at the “Lady in Black,” where nine different winners in nine races have proven no driver can fully corral the track “Too Tough to Tame.”

Few tracks embody the spirit of NASCAR quite like Darlington Raceway.

This historic venue has been the stage for some of NASCAR‘s most memorable moments, spanning decades of racing down in South Carolina at what was once considered a behemoth by track-size standards.

As the Cup Series heads to Darlington for the eighth race of the 2025 season, the Goodyear 400 feels like a slam dunk to deliver yet another dramatic chapter in the track‘s storied legacy after a roaring start to the year and the track‘s twice-annual degree of unpredictability set to ratchet up the stakes even further into the spring.

The numbers behind Darlington‘s chaos are staggering. In four of the last five races, the driver who led the most laps finished 25th or worse, a trend that illustrates how quickly fortunes can change at this egg-shaped oval. Even stage winners have struggled to convert their dominance into victories; eight of the 12 stage winners in the Next Gen era have also finished outside the top 25. Last year‘s Southern 500 featured 26 lead changes, the most at Darlington since 2008, and it‘s not too difficult to see that trend continuing.

Adding to Darlington‘s mystique is its knack for snapping winless streaks. Nine drivers have broken droughts of 50 or more races at this track, including both winners last year — Keselowski as mentioned above, but also regular-season finale winner Chase Briscoe. Darlington offers a chance for any driver who stumbled out of the gate but is willing to get their elbows dirty to reset their season and capitalize on a history of delivering redemption. Kyle Busch, enduring his career-long winless streak of 64 races, obviously, comes to mind immediately here.

All that said, the track does still seem to favor the sport‘s superstars, and it‘ll be hard to top, for starters, Martinsville winner Hamlin, the driver to beat at Darlington. No. 11 has ridden to four Victory Lane dances with “The Lady,” compiling an all-time best 8.2 average finish there.

As NASCAR celebrates its history with retro paint schemes this weekend, it feels like a weekend ahead where more history will be made. Whether it‘s another first-time winner or a veteran snapping a long drought, drama will surely be delivered.

cars sit in darlington garage

3. Throwback: Brad Keselowski on ‘freakin’ awesome’ Darlington skid-snapper

Brad Keselowski shares his excitement after winning the Goodyear 400 and talks about the battle between Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher.

4. Denny doesn’t make his crew chiefs wait long

The honeymoon stage is often a fruitful one for Denny Hamlin and his crew chiefs, whenever a new one has been installed. He’s nevernotwon in his first season with a new shot caller, and, more often than not, wins almost immediately. (Credit: Racing Insights)