08/24/2023
RFK Advance | Daytona II
Daytona Event Info:
Track Info: Daytona International Speedway, 2.5-mile Superspeedway
Date: Sunday, Aug. 26
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Format: 160 laps, 400 miles, Stages: 40-40-80
TV: NBC
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)
Weekend Schedule:
Friday: 5:05 p.m. ET, Qualifying (USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 7 p.m. ET, Race (NBC, Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Pace Laps:
- The NASCAR Cup Series rolls into ‘The World Center of Racing’ this weekend as Daytona hosts the final race of the regular season.
- RFK enters the weekend comfortably with both of its cars locked into the playoffs, with Keselowski clinching his position last weekend.
- Jack Roush has won 11 races all-time at Daytona including seven in the Cup Series.
6 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Matt McCall
Partner: King’s Hawaiian
17 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Fifth Third Bank
- As part of the Fueled by Fifth Third Program, Sea Fox Boats will ride on the decklid on Buescher’s No. 17 this weekend in Daytona.
- Sea Fox Boat Company was founded in 1995 by Freddy Renken, a third generation boat manufacturer. In the past 27 years, Freddy and his team have worked hard to keep the family legacy alive, primarily focusing on building the best quality boats at a fair price. Our goal at Sea Fox is to build boats with the fishing expert in mind while not sacrificing the comfort of friends and family. With a combined 65 years of experience in providing customers access to leisure on the water, Sea Fox aims to produce all the amenities you could possibly need so that you can leave your worries at the dock and escape like a fox.
Keselowski at Daytona
Starts: 28
Wins: 1 (2016)
Top-10s: 6
Poles: —
- Keselowski makes his 29th Cup start at ‘The World Center of Racing’ this weekend. He is the 2016 winner of the summer race just seven years ago, and overall has six top-10s and a 23.1 average finish.
- In the last race at Daytona, Keselowski was collected in a last-lap crash in the Daytona 500. Last summer, he finished 35th after exiting due to an early incident.
- Keselowski has 11 starts inside the top-10 at Daytona with a career-best P3 starting position (four times).
- In Xfinity Series action, Keselowski made 15 starts at DIS 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
Starts: 15
Wins: —
Top-10s: 6
Poles: —
- Buescher makes his 16th Cup start at Daytona this weekend where he has six top-10s and a 21.2 average finish.
- He’s coming off a fourth-place run in the 2023 Daytona 500, and last summer finished 27th after exiting early due to an incident. His best finish in the summer race otherwise came back in 2018 when he ran fifth.
- Buescher has started inside the top-10 at Daytona in three-straight races, including a P8 starting spot last summer, contributing to his 18.9 average starting position.
- He also made three NXS starts at DIS with a best finish of second (2015).
RFK Historically at Daytona
Cup Wins: 7 (Jeff Burton, 2000; Greg Biffle, 2003; Jamie McMurray, 2007; Matt Kenseth, 2009, 2012; David Ragan, 2011; Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 2017)
- Shining Bright in the Sunshine State: In 224 NCS starts at Daytona, RFK has recorded seven wins, 43 top-fives, 81 top-10s and has led 984 laps. Stenhouse earned the win in this race six years ago, the organizations most recent win overall. RFK also has five poles in the Cup series at Daytona, with the most recent coming in 2016 with Greg Biffle.
- Two Trips to Victory Lane in 2017: Just two years after earning his first ever NASCAR win, Ryan Reed survived a wild kickoff to the 2017 season. He survived multiple on-track incidents after starting on the outside of the front row and led only nine laps, but the final two, en route to the win over a host of Cup regulars.
- Then, in July of 2017, Stenhouse found himself in victory lane for the second time after leading 17 laps in his Fifth Third Ford. Stenhouse first led at lap 86, and from there survived a total of 14 cautions for 51 laps in what was his second win of the season.
- Born in the USA: RFK has recorded five victories in the July event at Daytona, including the organization’s first at the high-banked oval with former driver Jeff Burton in 2000. Former RFK drivers Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray and David Ragan earned victories in 2003, 2007 and 2011, respectively. Stenhouse, Jr. earned the fifth in 2017.
RFK Daytona Wins
2000-2 Burton Cup
2003-2 Biffle Cup
2004 Edwards Truck
2006 Martin Truck
2007-2 McMurray Cup
2009-1 Kenseth Cup
2011-2 Ragan Cup
2012-1 Kenseth Cup
2015-1 Reed NXS
Last Time Out & Where They Stand
Watkins Glen: Buescher earned his career-best 11th top-10 of the season last weekend at Watkins Glen, driving to a seventh-place result. Keselowski came all the way back from starting at the rear to finish 15th, securing his 2023 playoffs berth.
Points Standings (6: 6th, 17: 7th): With both RFK entries locked into the 2023 playoffs, the regular-season standings are in tight competition as Keselowski is sixth with Buescher just behind in seventh. The 6th-12th place drivers are separated by just 14 points entering the regular-season finale.
By the Numbers at Daytona
Race Win T5 T10 Pole Laps Led AvSt AvFn Miles
224 7 43 81 5 36503 984 19.2 18.0 91257.5
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
341 11 70 135 10 48059 1478 17.7 17.4 120,417.5
