RFK Racing's Brad Keselowski was officially cleared by NASCAR to compete at Daytona International Speedway this week. He qualified his No. 6 Ford 18th on Wednesday night and then finished in fourth in his America 250 Florida Duel race on Thursday night, securing the ninth starting position for Sunday's 2026 Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500.
However, as he continues to recover from the broken right femur he suffered in a fall during a ski trip in mid-December, Keselowski is using a cane to walk around, and RFK Racing do have a contingency plan in place for the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval, just in case.
For Daytona, should Keselowski be unable to complete (or, for whatever reason, start) Sunday's 68th running of the "Great American Race", David Ragan is his backup driver.
Brad Keselowski has David Ragan as a backup if need be. For COTA in two weeks, he will have Joey Hand, who is the RFK reserve driver for road courses. https://t.co/wnuxX7Z2Sz
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) February 11, 2026
David Ragan on standby for Brad Keselowski
Ragan most recently competed in the Daytona 500 in 2024, when RFK Racing added a non-chartered (open) entry for him. He led two laps after starting 40th (last) and finished 20th.
Since making his first Daytona 500 start with RFK Racing (then known as Roush Fenway Racing) in 2007, he has never gone back-to-back years without competing in the iconic event, even though he hasn't run full-time in the Cup Series since 2019.
Ragan owns a top finish of fourth place in 17 Daytona 500 starts, that coming in 2020 with Rick Ware Racing. He finished fifth and sixth for Roush Fenway Racing in 2007 and 2009, respectively. He owns two career Cup Series victories, both on superspeedways. He won at Daytona for Roush Fenway Racing in 2011, and he won at Talladega Superspeedway for Front Row Motorsports in 2013.
The hope, of course, is that it won't come down to Ragan getting behind the wheel of the No. 6 Ford, which he most recently drove 15 years ago, this weekend, or even next in next weekend's race at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway).
Road course ace Joey Hand continues to serve as the team's reserve driver on road courses after recording a career-high finish of fourth in the Chicago Street Race in his first start for the organization back in 2024, and he is set to be on hand, no pun intended, two weeks from now at Circuit of the Americas, one of only three non-ovals on this year's modified regular season schedule.
Fox is set to air the 68th running of the Daytona 500 beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, weather permitting. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss any of the action from Daytona International Speedway!