Team: No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Luke Lambert
Twitter: @17RoushTeam, @RoushFenway and @Chris_Buescher
Race Format: 318.46 miles, 301 laps, Stage Lengths: 75-110-116
Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 – Sunday, Aug. 2 at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
ADVANCE NOTES
Loudon Next Stop for NASCAR Cup Series
· With a longer gap than usual since the last NASCAR Cup Series event, the series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for a standalone race Sunday afternoon. By the time Sunday rolls around, nine days will have passed since the race at Kansas Speedway, the 19th points event of 2020.
· Kansas capped a stretch in NASCAR’s return to racing that included 16 Cup events in a span of 82 days, with the schedule through August setting up for the series’ originally scheduled 10-race playoff run beginning Labor Day weekend.
· With no practice or qualifying session on the books due to restrictions from COVID-19, starting lineups will continue to be set by a random draw within the teams’ order in owners’ points. Buescher will draw for a spot in the 13-24 group.
· Four weeks of NASCAR action were initially completed prior to the COVID-19 hiatus with races at Atlanta, Homestead, Texas, Bristol, Richmond, Talladega, Dover and Martinsville postponed before the schedule later picked back up in mid-May.
Buescher Historically at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
· Buescher makes his seventh Cup start at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday. In six prior events, he has an average finish of 23.3 with a best result of 15th last season.
· In two Xfinity Series events, Buescher finished fifth in his first race in the No. 60 entry for Jack Roush in 2014, and followed with a 14th-place run a year later.
Luke Lambert at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
· Lambert will call his 14th Cup race at Loudon on Sunday, where he has an average finish of 13.7 with six top-10s.
· Lambert’s best outings came within his first four Cup races at the track, where he finished third with Jeff Burton in 2013, and a year later crossed the line fifth with Ryan Newman. Most recently, Lambert led Newman to a sixth-place run in 2018.
· Lambert also called one Xfinity event with Elliott Sadler in 2012, finishing seventh.
QUOTE WORTHY
Buescher on racing at NHMS:
“Coming off a long break, we’re ready to get to Loudon and try and turn our luck around. We’ve had some strong cars as of late and proved that with some stage runs, but have unfortunately been caught up in other incidents that ruined our days. We’re looking forward to the weekend in the Fastenal Ford.”
Last Time Out
After working his way up to 13th in the final stage of the last race at Kansas Speedway, Buescher’s night ended early after getting caught up in a multicar late-race incident, to finish 33rd.
Where They Rank
Buescher is 21st in driver standings through 19 events.
On the Car
Fastenal celebrates its 10th season with Roush Fenway Racing in 2020. The Minnesota company spent three years on the No. 99 before jumping to the No. 17 Cup Series entry, and were the primary partner on the No. 60 Xfinity team that captured the owner’s championship in 2011.
Milwaukee, MCR, Georgia Pacific and MSA will ride aboard the No. 17 as Fastenal Racing’s featured suppliers Wednesday at Bristol.
Milwaukee Tool Company, a leader in power tools since 1924, will ride on the hood.
MCR, a leader in the field of personal protective equipment (PPE), will be on the deck lid.
Georgia Pacific, a pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, will ride on the lower rear quarter panel.
MSA, a maker of sophisticated safety products, will ride on the b-post.
Fastenal will also celebrate its national Go Blue sales contest on Buescher’s ride this weekend, by highlighting the names of the Fastenal employees in the New England Region for their continued success. Each employee’s name in the region will be displayed on the hood of the Fastenal Ford Sunday.
About Fastenal
Fastenal [Nasdaq: FAST] is North America’s largest fastener distributor and a ‘one-stop’ source for hundreds of thousands of OEM, MRO and Construction products. With more than 2,600 stores worldwide, the company supports B2B customers with tailored local inventory and dedicated personnel, who visit regularly, quickly respond to emergency needs, and provide efficient inventory management solutions. Fastenal’s service-oriented business network includes the world’s largest industrial vending program, 14 regional distribution centers, 8 custom manufacturing facilities, thousands of delivery vehicles, and industry-leading sourcing, quality and engineering resources.
