02/10/2025
RFK Advance | Daytona 500
Daytona 500 Event Info:
Date: Sunday, Feb. 16
Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Format: 200 Laps, Stages: 65-65-70
TV: FOX
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)
Weekend Schedule:
Wednesday: 10:05 a.m. ET, Practice (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Wednesday: 8:15 p.m. ET, D500 Qualifying (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Thursday: 7 p.m. ET, Duels (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Friday: 5:35 p.m. ET, Practice (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 3:05 p.m. ET, Practice (FS2, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 2:30 p.m. ET, Daytona 500 (FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Pace Laps:
- The 2025 NASCAR season officially kicks off this week at ‘The World Center of Racing’ for the 67th running of ‘The Great American Race.’
- Jack Roush has 12 wins all-time at Daytona across NASCAR, including eight in the Cup Series.
- Coverage from Daytona kicks off Wednesday with practice and single-car qualifying to determine the front row for the Daytona 500. The Duels Thursday night will determine the remaining starting lineup for Sunday’s 500-mile race.
6 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Jeremy Bullins
Partner: Kroger
17 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Fastenal
60 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Derrick Finley
Partner: BuildSubmarines.com
RFK Historically in The Duels
Overall Wins: 3 (Matt Kenseth, 2012; Brad Keselowski, 2022; Chris Buescher, 2022)
- Three years ago, in 2022, RFK went into Daytona and swept both duel races as Keselowski won the opening duel race, and Buescher followed up with a win in the second qualifying race.
- Prior to 2022, Matt Kenseth had Jack Roush’s lone win in the Duels as he went on to win the 2012 Great American Race.
- Keselowski earned a seventh-place finish in last year’s qualifying event, while Buescher took home 10th place. Preece, while racing for Stewart-Haas Racing, finished 13th.
- Keselowski historically has 16 starts in the Duels with the one win and seven top-10s.
- Buescher will be making his 10th start in the Duels on Thursday. He’s finished top-10 in the Duels in seven-straight outings and has finished inside the top-10 in all but one Duels race that he’s been in since 2016.
- Preece has run in five Duels and has three top-10s, with a best finish of fifth back in 2021.
Keselowski at Daytona International Speedway
Starts: 31
Wins: 1 (July 2016)
Top-10s: 8
Poles: —
- Keselowski makes his 32nd overall start at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway this weekend, and 16th start in the Daytona 500. In 15 D500 starts, Keselowski has two top-10s and a best finish of third (2014).
- Most recently, Keselowski was caught up in a late-race crash in the 2024 rendition of the ‘Great American Race,’ and went on to finish 33rd. Last summer, Keselowski earned the most points of any driver in the field and led the charge with an eighth-place finish.
- Overall, Keselowski has eight top-10s at DIS, four of which were inside the top five.
- Overall Keselowski has 11 starts inside the top-10 at Daytona with four starts in third. Last season he started 16th in the 500.
- Keselowski’s new crew chief, Jeremy Bullins, has two career wins at Daytona, including the most recent race in August 2024 as Harrison Burton’s crew chief. He also won the Daytona 500 in 2022 with Austin Cindric.
- In Xfinity Series action, Keselowski made 15 starts at Daytona with seven top-10s and a best finish of second (twice – 2012, 2014). He also made three Truck Series starts with a seventh-place run in 2005.
Buescher at Daytona International Speedway
Starts: 18
Wins: 1 (August 2023)
Top-10s: 8
Poles: —
- Buescher makes his 19th start at Daytona this weekend, and 10th in the ‘Great American Race.’
- In 18 starts he has eight top-10s and five top fives. He won the 2023 race at Daytona as Keselowski pushed him to the win.
- His best Daytona 500 finish came four years ago when he finished third. Last season, Buescher ran 18th in the 500.
- Buescher has an 18.1 average qualifying effort, and started top-10 in three-straight races from 2022-23. He started 19th in last season’s 500.
- He also made three Xfinity Series starts at DIS with a best finish of second in the 2015 season-opening event.
Preece at Daytona International Speedway
Starts: 10
Wins: 0
Top-10s: 3
Poles: —
- Preece makes his 11th overall start at DIS, and sixth in the Daytona 500. In 10 starts overall, he has three top-10 finishes.
- His best Daytona 500 finish came in 2021 when he ran sixth in the No. 37 car for JTG-Daughtery Racing. In his last start in the D500, Preece finished 23rd.
- In 2021, Preece finished in the top-10 in both Daytona races, one of two drivers to do so that season.
RFK Historically in the Daytona 500
Wins: 2 (Matt Kenseth, 2009 & 2012)
- NASCAR Hall of Famer Matt Kenseth was the first to drive a Jack Roush owned Ford into victory lane for the Daytona 500, earning the victory in 2009. He led just seven laps – the final seven – after starting from the 39th position en route to his first of two Daytona 500 victories over a span of four seasons.
- Jack Roush has won two poles in the Daytona 500, one coming from Greg Biffle in 2004 and the other in 2012 with Carl Edwards. Biffle earned the 2004 pole after a speed of 188.387 and went on to finish 12th. Edwards had a pole speed of 194.738 and finished eighth in the 2012 Daytona 500.
By the Numbers at Daytona International Speedway
Race Win T5 T10 Pole Laps Led AvSt AvFn Miles
231 8 45 85 5 37748 1015 19.2 17.9 94370.0
96 2 22 45 2 9805 303 14.5 16.4 24512.5
21 2 5 9 3 1751 191 14.0 15.4 4377.5
348 12 72 139 10 49004 1509 17.6 17.1 123260.0
