06/04/2024
RFK Advance: Sonoma
Sonoma Event Info:
Date: Sunday, June 9
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Sonoma, Calif.
Format: 110 Laps, 218.9 Miles, Stages: 25-30-55
TV: FOX
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)
Weekend Schedule:
Friday: 5:05 p.m. ET (Tape Delayed at 8:30 p.m. ET), Practice (FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 6 p.m. ET, Qualifying (FS2, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 3:30 p.m. ET, Race (FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Pace Laps:
- Sonoma hosts points race No. 16 this weekend as the Cup Series heads West for its annual summer date on the 12-turn road course.
- RFK will run its #Stage60 program for the second time this season as Cam Waters – Australian Supercars Star – makes his Cup Series debut.
- Waters sits fourth in the Supercars Championship standings this season as he leads the series with three poles, and is fresh off a win at Perth a couple weeks ago.
- Waters will be one of two Supercars stars in the field this weekend as Will Brown will pilot the No. 33 for RCR.
- Chris Buescher enters the weekend as one of the hottest drivers on road courses with a 9.9 average finish in 19 races since 2021. He carried a streak of eight-straight top-10s on road courses into the summer of last year, and has finished top-10 in 12 of 19 races on road courses since 2021.
- Brad Keselowski has already matched his top five total from 2023 (seven) through just 15 races, having finished top three in five of the last seven races (only second time in his career to accomplish that feat).
- He carries the best average finish in the last six races of any driver (8.2) with laps led in five of those six events.
6 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Matt McCall
Partner: King’s Hawaiian Top Secret Car
17 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: BuildSubmarines.com
60 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Derrick Finley
Partner: AUKUS / BuildSubmarines.com
Keselowski at Sonoma
Starts: 13
Wins: —
Top-10s: 3
Poles: —
- Keselowski makes his 14th Cup start in Sonoma this weekend, where in 13 starts prior he has three top-10s and a 16.1 average finish.
- His best-career finish at the 12-turn course came in 2017 when he ran third. Most recently he finished 16th in 2023, and 10th in 2022.
- Keselowski has three top-10 qualifying efforts with a best of ninth in 2021, and an average of 17.5.
Buescher at Sonoma
Starts: 7
Wins: —
Top-10s: 2
Poles: —
- Buescher is in line for his eighth Cup start from Sonoma on Sunday, where he’s fresh off back-to-back top five results. He finished fourth in this race a season ago, and ran second in 2022.
- Dating back to the start of the 2021 season, Buescher has the second-best average finish of any driver on road courses (9.9) with 11 top-10s in that 19-race span. His average finish of 7.3 at Sonoma since 2021 is also second-best.
- In six road course events in 2023, Buescher finished top-10 in all but one (P11 in Indy).
- He also has back-to-back top-10 qualifying efforts of seventh (2023) and third (2022) with five efforts of 12th or better in his seven starts.
- In his Cup career, Buescher has a 13.5 average finish on road courses with 13 top-10s in 33 starts.
Waters in NASCAR
Starts: 2 (Truck Series)
- Waters makes his Cup Series debut this weekend at Sonoma, after making his NASCAR debut earlier this season in the Truck Series at Martinsville.
- He later made another start at Kansas finishing 19th, both races coming in the No. 66 for ThorSport.
RFK Historically at Sonoma
Cup Wins: 2 (Mark Martin, 1997; Carl Edwards, 2014)
- Looking for the Hat Trick in the ‘Golden State’: In 110 NCS starts at Sonoma, RFK has recorded two wins, 16 top-five finishes, 37 top-10 finishes and has led 281 laps. Former RFK driver Carl Edwards earned the organization’s most recent victory at the road course in 2014.
- Hasta La Vista Baby: RFK has left the California road course victorious on two occasions in the NCS with former drivers Mark Martin and Carl Edwards. Martin earned the victory in 1997 after starting from the pole and leading 69 laps, while Edwards started fourth and led 26 laps in the 2014 running of this event.
- RFK on the Road: As an organization, RFK has made 246 starts on road courses in the Cup Series with five wins, 86 top-10s and 40 finishes inside the top five with a 17.5 average finish.
RFK Sonoma Wins
1997 Martin Cup
1997 Ruttman Truck
2014 Edwards Cup
Last Time Out & Where They Stand
Gateway: Keselowski finished third in Gateway, his third-consecutive top-3 finish, while Buescher rebounded for a 14th-place finish in just the third trip to St. Louis for the Cup Series.
Points Standings (6: 9th, 17: 14th): Keselowski remains ninth in points, now tied with Christopher Bell (who has two wins). Buescher is up one spot to 14th with a 17-point gap separating 13th-16th.
By the Numbers at Sonoma
Race Win T5 T10 Pole Laps Led AvSt AvFn Miles
110 2 16 37 2 11221 281 18.3 18.0 27715.8
5 1 3 3 0 322 4 12.4 8.6 811.44
115 3 19 40 2 11543 285 17.9 17.6 28527.2
