07/23/2020
Roush Fenway Weekly Advance | Kansas
Roush Fenway heads to The Sunflower State Thursday for the first of two scheduled trips to Kansas Speedway this season. Jack Roush has sent nine cars to victory lane at the 1.5-mile track, four of which were in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Kansas Speedway
Super Start Batteries 400 Presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts
Thursday, July 23 | 7:30 p.m. ET
NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
- Ryan Newman, No. 6 Wyndham Rewards Ford Mustang
- Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang
Thursday Night Race on Deck in Kansas
- Just four days after a 500-mile race in Texas, the NASCAR Cup Series stays west for a rare Thursday night event totaling 400 miles under the lights at Kansas Speedway.
- The first Kansas race was originally scheduled for late May in its typical spring slot, but was moved to summer following scheduling implications from COVID-19. The NCS race will be the first of five races at the 1.5-mile track across the weekend, with the Truck Series set for a doubleheader, and the Xfinity and ARCA Series also on tap.
- The lineup for Sunday’s race will again be determined by a random draw based on teams’ order in owners’ points. Chris Buescher drew the 13th position to start, and Ryan Newman will roll off from the 18th
- Four weeks of NASCAR action were completed prior to the COVID-19 hiatus with races at Atlanta, Homestead, Texas, Bristol, Richmond, Talladega, Dover and Martinsville postponed.
Texas Recap, Kansas Preview
- Buescher got off to a fast start in last weekend’s race in Texas, earning stage points in the first segment before getting caught up in a multi-car incident. Despite the damage and an unlucky pit road mishap, Buescher battled back for a 19th-place finish.
- Newman hung tough through a flurry of late-race cautions to finish 13th, his third-straight top-15 at the track.
- Fifth Third Bank returns to Buescher’s No. 17 Ford Mustang Thursday night.
- Wyndham Rewards is back on Newman’s No. 6 machine for the second consecutive race.
Follow the Yellow Brick Road
Overall, Roush Fenway has started 167 races across the three national series, earning nine wins, 41 top-five finishes, 75 top-10 finishes and has an overall average finish of 14.4.
Winning at Kansas
Roush Fenway swept both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NCS races at Kansas in the fall of 2012 with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Matt Kenseth. Stenhouse became the sixth driver to win at the track for the organization via his Xfinity victory.
NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin earned Roush Fenway’s first NCS win at Kansas in 2005 and former driver Greg Biffle bested the 1.5-mile track in 2007 and 2010. Roush Fenway’s first overall win at Kansas came in 2002 via Jeff Burton in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Three drivers (Jon Wood in 2003, Carl Edwards in 2004 and Erik Darnell in 2007) have won in the NGROTS at Kansas for Roush Fenway.
Tale of the Tape
Roush Fenway has started 98 NCS races at Kansas, recording four victories, 20 top-five finishes, 35 top-10 finishes, an average finish of 16.2 and has led 956 laps. Kenseth earned the most recent victory at Kansas in the fall of 2012.
