04/02/2024
RFK Advance | Martinsville I
Martinsville I Event Info:
Date: Sunday, April 7
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Martinsville, Virginia
Format: 400 Laps, 210.4 miles, Stages: 80-100-220
TV: FS1
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)
Weekend Schedule:
Saturday: 4:35 p.m., Practice (FS2, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 5:20 p.m., Qualifying (FS2, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 3 p.m. ET, Race (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Pace Laps:
- The NASCAR Cup Series goes short-track racing for the second week in a row as Martinsville Speedway hosts its first of two race dates this weekend.
- Jack Roush’s Fords have five top-10 qualifying efforts at Martinsville in the last two seasons alone, as Chris Buescher is coming off his career-best result at ‘The Paperclip’ last fall.
- Buescher is one of just four drivers thus far this season with five top-10s.
6 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Matt McCall
Partner: Body Guard
17 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: BuildSubmarines.com
Keselowski at Martinsville
Starts: 28
Wins: 2
Top-10s: 17
Poles: 1 (2020)
- Keselowski, a two-time winner at Martinsville, is set for his 29th Cup start at ‘The Paperclip.’
- Martinsville stands as one of Keselowski’s best tracks statistically with an average finish of 13.2. He’s coming off a 33rd-place finish last fall after being collected in an incident, and last spring finished 24th.
- He has finished top-10 in 61 percent of his starts there. Of the 17 top-10s, 12 have been inside the top five. He earned his first Grandfather clock back in 2017 and won the same race two years later in the spring.
- He carries an average starting position of 11.4 into the weekend with 16 starts inside the top-10 and one pole (2010). He’s qualified 10th or better in seven of the last eight races at Martinsville, including P10 last fall.
- Keselowski also made four Truck Series starts from 2004-07.
Buescher at Martinsville
Starts: 17
Wins: —
Top-10s: 2
Poles: —
- Buescher is coming off his career-best finish at Martinsville, and is set for his 18th Cup start at ‘The Paperclip’ this weekend.
- Last fall he finished eighth in the final race in the Round of 8, and last spring ran 14th.
- He has four-straight top-15s in the spring event dating back to 2020 with a P13 result that spring, followed by another 13th-place finish in 2021, last season’s P15, and last season’s 14th-place result.
- Buescher has an average starting position of 21.5 at Martinsville and is coming off some of his best qualifying efforts to date. He qualified 10th last spring and fourth the spring prior (2022).
RFK Historically at Martinsville
Cup Wins: 4 (Mark Martin, 1992, 2000; Jeff Burton, 1997; Kurt Busch, 2002)
- For Whom the Bell Tolls: RFK has earned four Grandfather Clocks at Martinsville with former drivers Mark Martin (two), Jeff Burton and Kurt Busch. RFK most recently went to victory lane with Busch in Oct. 2002.
- Rock Around the Clock: RFK had its overall most-successful outing at Martinsville in the spring of 2002 when it placed all four of its cars inside the top 10 with drivers Martin, Burton, Busch and Matt Kenseth.
- Closing Time: RFK earned a one-two finish in the April 9, 2000 event at Martinsville with former drivers Martin and Burton. Martin paced the field for 64 laps en route to the victory.
- Short-Track Prowess: RFK has started a total of 708 NCS races on short tracks, recording a total of 24 wins, 127 top-five finishes, 256 top-10 finishes and 8,079 laps led.
- Tale of the Tape: RFK has started 228 NCS races at Martinsville, recording four victories, 26 top-five finishes, 70 top-10 finishes, an average finish of 17.9 and has led 1,385 laps. RFK also boasts two NASCAR Truck Series wins in 46 starts at Martinsville (fall of ’03 and ’05).
RFK Martinsville Wins
1992-1 Martin Cup
1997-2 Burton Cup
2000-1 Martin Cup
2002-2 Busch Cup
2003-2 Wood Truck
2005-2 Craven Truck
Last Time Out & Where They Stand
Richmond: Both RFK cars again finished inside the top-10 at Richmond with Keselowski running eighth and Buescher ninth. It marked Buescher’s fourth-straight top-10, the longest streak of his career, and Keselowski’s third of the young season.
Points Standings (17: 12th, 6: 16th): While the points standings remain unchanged coming off of Richmond, an 11-point gap separates 13th-17th, with Buescher carrying a 18-point cushion to P13.
By the Numbers at Martinsville
Race Win T5 T10 Pole Laps Led AvSt AvFn Miles
228 4 26 70 4 109228 1385 20.1 17.9 57453.9
3 0 0 1 0 750 0 28.0 19.3 394.5
46 2 14 24 3 10256 270 12.4 12.3 5394.6
277 6 40 95 7 120234 1655 20.1 16.4 63243
