Roush Fenway Weekly Advance – Charlotte II

The NASCAR Cup Series hits the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway for its second event in four days with a shorter, 310.6-mile event under the lights. After Chris Buescher’s top-10 finish in Sunday’s Coke 600, Jack Roush has 80 top-10 runs at the oval at CMS all-time, the fourth-most of any track on the circuit for the NASCAR Hall of Fame owner.

Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5-Mile)
Alsco Uniforms 500

Wednesday, May 27, 2020 | 8 p.m. ET

FS1, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90

·         Ryan Newman, No. 6 Roush Performance Ford Mustang
·         Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang

NASCAR Returns to Action

·         NASCAR continues its return to racing Wednesday with the fourth Cup Series event in a 10-day span as Charlotte Motor Speedway hosts its second consecutive race – this time a condensed, 310.6-mile shootout.
·         From Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 to Wednesday, cars will turn nearly 1000 miles this week alone as the series is slated for its eighth points race overall of 2020, and fourth in the return of the sport. Following Wednesday’s race, the NCS will then hit five different tracks from May 31 – June 21 in the remainder of the announced scheduled to date.
·         Four weeks of NASCAR action were completed prior to the hiatus with races at Atlanta, Homestead, Texas, Bristol, Richmond, Talladega, Dover and Martinsville postponed.

Wednesday Recap, Sunday Preview

·         Ryan Newman appeared poised for a strong run in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, having powered his Roman Ford inside the top-10, before a faulty battery dropped the team off the pace just over halfway through the race.
·         Newman recorded a 10th-place finish in stage one, but with only four cautions over the final 150 laps, he was unable to gain all his laps back to settle for a 28th-place finish.
·         Buescher picked up three spots during a hectic final two-lap shootout to bring his Fifth Third Ford home 10th in the Coke 600. He and the 17 team overcame an early pit road penalty to record their second top-10 of 2020.

Invert Determines Starting Lineup for Wednesday

The NASCAR Cup Series held a qualifying session for Sunday’s Coke 600 – the first and only scheduled qualifying thus far in NASCAR’s return – as Newman qualified 18th with Buescher 19th. The top-20 invert is back for Wednesday’s race, with Buescher rolling off 11th after a 10th-place run. Newman will fire off 28th after his finish on Sunday.

Golden Sombrero

Roush Fenway won a record four-consecutive Coca-Cola 600’s from 1999-2002 with drivers Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin. During that span, Roush Fenway led 427 laps, including 201 of 400 laps in the 1999 event.

2006 Dominance in the Coca-Cola 600

Roush Fenway had its best overall outing in the Coca-Cola 600 in 2006, when its five entries averaged a 5.4 finish. Roush Fenway Fords finished third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth while leading 52 laps in the event. In 2002, Roush Fenway 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).

Tale of the Tape

Roush Fenway has started 212 NCS races at Charlotte, recording eight total wins with 46 top-five and 80 top-10 finishes. RFR Fords have an average finish of 16.3 with 2627 laps led all-time.

Roush Fenway 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

By the Numbers at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Race      Win       T5           T10         Pole       Laps       Led        AvSt      AvFn     Miles