05/23/2023
RFK Advance | Charlotte I
Coca-Cola 600 Event Info:
Track Info: Charlotte Motor Speedway, 1.5-mile
Date: Sunday, May 28
Time: 6 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Concord, N.C.
Format: 400 laps, 600 miles, Stages: 100-100-100-100
TV: FOX
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)
Weekend Schedule:
Saturday: 7:05 p.m. ET, Practice (FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 7:50 p.m. ET, Qualifying (FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 6 p.m. ET, Race (FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Pace Laps:
- The NASCAR schedule returns to Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend for the running of the Coca-Cola 600. The 64th running of the historic race is a culmination of NASCAR Salutes, a month-long campaign recognizing and honoring those in the United States military that have served and continue to serve today.
- This weekend, each entry will display a fallen service member’s name on the windshield header decal as part of the 600 Miles of Remembrance program.
- RFK has 20 wins all-time at CMS including four in the Coke 600.
6 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Matt McCall
Partner: Castrol Edge
- The No. 6 will pay tribute to and honor Staff Sergeant Curtis Roy Cline. Born in Burlington, Michigan, Cline was a farm boy with an older brother, David, and two sisters, Joyce and Janice. He deployed to Vietnam in 1969 and unfortunately, never returned. Cline was described as an All-American young man and is survived by his brother. Cline was 20 at the time he went missing in Vietnam, and, after being considered Missing in Action (MIA), was later declared deceased in 1974.
17 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Fastenal
- The No. 17 will pay tribute to and honor Staff Sergeant Ari Cullers. Born in New London, Connecticut, Cullers as a child knew he wanted to join the U.S. Army. His step father was in the National Guard and would take Ari with him to drill on the weekends. Once he graduated high school, he enlisted in the Army. He took his passion for working on motorcycles and car engines to become a mechanic. While enlisted, he spent his time off fishing and enjoying the outdoors. Cullers had two tours in Afghanistan, and on Oct. 30, 2011, was killed by a rocket propelled grenade while deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan. Survived by his mother, stepfather, and brother, Cullers was 28.
Keselowski at Charlotte
Starts: 23
Wins: 2 (2013, 2020)
Top-10s: 10
Poles: 1 (2011)
- Keselowski makes his 14th start in the Coca-Cola 600 and 24th overall start at CMS this weekend. He has 10 top-10 finishes – five inside the top five – with two wins and a 14.2 average finish.
- Keselowski is the 2020 winner of the 600-mile event, leading 21 laps after starting ninth. He also won on the oval in 2013, and in total has led in 13 different Charlotte oval events.
- Last season, Keselowski was caught up in an incident and finished 30th.
- Keselowski has an average starting position of 16.2 with one pole (2011). Otherwise, he has eight starts inside the top-10.
- Keselowski also made a combined 25 additional starts in the Xfinity and Truck Series at CMS with a combined four wins – all in Xfinity – in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2018.
Buescher at Charlotte
Starts: 10
Wins: —
Top-10s: 3
Poles: —
- Buescher makes his 11th Cup start at Charlotte this weekend in what will be his seventh Coca-Cola 600.
- He has three top-10s at Charlotte with a best finish of sixth in the 2019 Coke 600. He finished 10th a year later, and ran eighth in the 2021 marquee event. Last season, Buescher was inside the top-10 in the late stages of the race before flipping multiple times down the front stretch.
- Buescher’s best starting position stands as 11th (2020 spring race) with a 21.4 overall average starting position.
- He also made five Xfinity Series starts at CMS with three top-10s and a best finish of sixth (2014).
RFK Historically at Charlotte
Cup Wins: 8 (Mark Martin, 1992, 1995, 1998, 2002; Jeff Burton, 1999, 2001; Matt Kenseth, 2000, 2011)
- RFK in the 600: In 108 NCS starts in the famed Coca-Cola 600, RFK Racing has visited victory lane four times and recorded 23 top-five and 40 top-10 finishes. Jeff Burton leads the way with two Coke 600 victories for Jack Roush, while Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth have one apiece.
- Tale of the Tape: RFK has started 218 NCS races at Charlotte, recording eight total wins with 46 top-five and 81 top-10 finishes. RFK Fords have an average finish of 16.4 with 2627 laps led all-time.
- 2006 Dominance: RFK had its best overall outing in the Coca-Cola 600 in 2006, when its five entries averaged a 5.4 finish. RFK Fords finished third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth, while leading 52 laps in the event. In 2002, RFK posted a one-two finish in the event with Martin and Kenseth battling feverishly for the win and combining to lead 67 laps in the race (with Martin taking the win).
- Golden Sombrero: RFK won a record four consecutive Coca-Cola 600’s from 1999-2002 with drivers Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin. During that span, RFK led 427 laps, including 201 of 400 laps in the 1999 event.
RFK Charlotte Wins
1992-2 Martin Cup
1995-2 Martin Cup
1998-2 Martin Cup
1999-1 Burton Cup
2000-1 Kenseth Cup
2001-1 Burton Cup
2002-1 Martin Cup
2011-2 Kenseth Cup
1993-2 Martin NXS
1995-2 Martin NXS
1996-1 Martin NXS
1996-2 Martin NXS
1998-1 Martin NXS
1999-1 Martin NXS
2000-1 Burton NXS
2001-2 Biffle NXS
2002-2 Burton NXS
2006-1 Edwards NXS
2011-1 Kenseth NXS
2011-2 Edwards NXS
2011-2 Edwards NXS
2015-1 Buescher NXS
Last Time Out & Where They Stand
North Wilkesboro: Chris Buescher earned stage points in stage two and went on to finish 17th at Kansas, while Keselowski finished 19th Sunday afternoon.
Points Standings (6: 8th, 17: 13th): Keselowski enters the weekend eighth in points, while Buescher is 13th with a nine-point gap separating positions 12-14.
By the Numbers at Charlotte
Race Win T5 T10 Pole Laps Led AvSt AvFn Miles
218 8 46 81 3 72983 2627 19.4 16.4 109474.5
121 12 33 60 13 22207 2425 10.7 14.2 33310.5
16 0 2 5 0 2089 130 11.8 15.4 3133.5
355 20 81 146 16 97279 5182 16.0 16.6 145918.5
