Fifth Third Bank RFK Racing sponsorship expected to end after 2026
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 16, 2026
Fifth Third exit
Fifth Third Bank is expected to end its sponsorship of RFK Racing after the 2026 NASCAR season, a move that would close a deal that began in 2012 when the team was still known as Roush Fenway Racing. The bank and the team declined to confirm the reported development, but the expected exit would mark the end of a partnership that has stretched across a major name change inside the organization. Fifth Third’s name has been tied to RFK Racing’s No. 17 Ford through several eras, with Matt Kenseth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chris Buescher all driving the car under the sponsorship.
The expected departure is also separate from Brad Keselowski’s planned exit from RFK Racing, leaving the sponsorship decision and the driver decision on different tracks. That matters because the bank’s role was built over years, not around one driver cycle. The reported end date points to a broader reset in the relationship rather than a single personnel move. For a sponsor that first came in when the team operated under a different identity, the timeline shows how long the arrangement has lasted and how closely the bank has followed the No. 17 program.
Fifth Third business
For Fifth Third, the RFK deal also worked as a business-development tool. The bank used the sponsorship to reach customers in racing and the automotive aftermarket, two areas connected to its NASCAR audience. Fifth Third continued to hold other motorsports and sports-marketing properties after its acquisition of Comerica Bank, so the expected end of the RFK deal would not leave the company without a presence in that space.
The bank was also the primary sponsor for five races in 2026, which shows that the relationship still had active race-weekend value even as its long-term future came into focus. That background helps explain why the sponsorship mattered as a business-development tool. It linked Fifth Third to the racing business in a way that blended marketing and customer access. The Cincinnati-based bank has used motorsports as one part of a broader sports-marketing strategy, and the RFK relationship was part of that effort for more than a decade.
RFK Racing future
RFK Racing now faces a broader stretch of change as it looks toward 2027. The team still intends to field three full-time cars that year, even as it works through sponsor and charter changes ahead of the season. That leaves RFK Racing balancing continuity on the competition side with movement on the business side. The No. 17 program has already carried several drivers under the Fifth Third banner, and the car’s history under the sponsorship gives the team a clear example of how long the partnership has lasted.
The reported end of the deal after 2026 would therefore reach beyond one car number and touch a longer stretch of the team’s commercial setup. It also comes at a time when RFK Racing is managing more than one kind of transition. The team has sponsor changes in front of it, charter changes in front of it and a three-car plan in place for 2027. The bank’s expected exit fits into that broader picture, even if the move itself stands apart from Keselowski’s planned departure.
