02/15/2023

RFK Advance | Daytona 500

Daytona 500 Event Info:
Date: Sunday, February 19
Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
Event: 65^th Daytona 500
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Format: 200 laps, Stages: 65-65-70
TV: FOX
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Weekend Schedule:
Wednesday: 8:15 p.m. ET, Qualifying (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Thursday: 7 p.m. ET, Duel 1 (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Thursday: 8:45 p.m. ET, Duel 2 (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Friday: 5:30 p.m. ET, Practice (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 10:30 a.m. ET, Final Practice (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 2:30 p.m. ET, Race (FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

6 Team Info:
Partner: NEXLIZET (bempedoic acid and ezetimibe)
Crew Chief: Matt McCall

17 Team Info:
Partner: Fastenal
Crew Chief: Scott Graves

Pace Laps:

• The 2023 NASCAR season officially kicks off this week at ‘The World Center of Racing’ as Daytona International Speedway hosts five-straight days of on-track activity.
• Jack Roush has 11 wins all-time at Daytona across NASCAR’s three major touring series (Cup, Xfinity, Trucks), including seven alone in the Cup Series.
• The schedule for Daytona is vastly different this week with no on-track activity prior to single-car qualifying on Wednesday, and the Duels on Thursday. The first practice session comes Friday afternoon with a final practice set for Saturday morning.

RFK Historically in The Duels
Overall Wins: 3 (Matt Kenseth, 2012; Brad Keselowski, 2022; Chris Buescher, 2022)

• 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.
• Last season, 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.
• Keselowski historically has 14 starts in the Duels with the one win and five top-10s.
• Buescher will be making his eighth start in the Duels on Thursday. He’s finished top-10 in the Duels in four-straight outings and has finished inside the top-10 in all but one Duels race that he’s been in since 2016.

Keselowski at Daytona International Speedway
Starts: 27
Wins: 1 (2016)
Top-10s: 6
Poles: —

• Keselowski makes his 28^th overall start on the oval at Daytona this weekend, and 14^th start in the Daytona 500. In 13 Daytona 500 starts all-time, Keselowski has two top-10s and a best finish of third (2014). A year prior he crossed the line fourth.
• Most recently, Keselowski finished ninth in the 2022 Daytona 500, and ran 13^th a year prior. His lone win at ‘The World Center of Racing’ came in the 2016 summer race. Overall he has six top-10s at DIS.
• Overall Keselowski has 10 starts inside the top-10 at Daytona with four starts in third.
• 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: 14
Wins: —
Top-10s: 5
Poles: —

• Buescher makes his 15^th start on the oval at DIS this weekend, and eighth in the Great American Race.
• In 14 starts Buescher has five top-10s with three inside the top five. His best Daytona 500 finish came three years ago when he finished third. He also finished fifth in the 500 back in 2018.
• Buescher has two-straight top-10 starts at Daytona including a fourth-place grid position in last year’s 500 after a win in his Duel race.
• He also made three Xfinity Series starts at DIS with a best finish of second in the 2015 season-opening event.

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 39^th 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

222         7              42           80           5              36080    910         19.3        18.1        90200

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

339         11           69           134         10           47636    1404       17.8        17.3        119090