Team: No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Luke Lambert
Twitter: @17RoushTeam, @RoushFenway and @Chris_Buescher
Race Format: 231 miles, 65 laps, Stage Lengths: 15-15-35
GoBowling 235 – Sunday, Aug. 16 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
ADVANCE NOTES
Road Course at Daytona on the Horizon for NASCAR This Weekend
· For the first time in the sport’s history, the NASCAR Cup Series will take to the 3.57-mile road course on the infield at Daytona this weekend. The weekend date was originally held for the series’ annual trip to the Watkins Glen International road course, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forced adjustments to the schedule, meaning the NCS will visit Daytona twice over the next three weeks.
· The race will be held on the same road course as the Rolex 24 at Daytona, North America’s premier race for sports cars. NASCAR also announced several key competition components at the Daytona RC, including the addition of a chicane off Turn 4 at the famed oval. Overall, the course features 14 turns.
· Additionally, as announced last week by NASCAR, the series will now use three competition-based performance metrics to determine the starting lineup and pit selection order for each race, replacing the random draw procedure that has been in place since NASCAR’s return in May.
· NASCAR will reward both season-long and single-race performance to determine the lineup and pit selection, using owner points position, the finish and fastest lap from the most recently completed race. Beginning with the NASCAR Playoffs at Darlington, playoff cars will fill the top starting positions starting from the Round of 16, all the way through to the Championship 4.
· 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 on Road Courses
· Buescher will be one of the many drivers taking the green flag at the road course for the first time on Sunday. Overall he has 11 road course starts in the NCS including five at WGI, four at Sonoma Raceway, and two at the newest course on the circuit, the ROVAL at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
· Buescher does have a road course win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, which came back in 2014 at Mid-Ohio when he took Jack Roush’s No. 60 machine to victory lane. He also won an ARCA Menards Series event at Road America back in 2013.
Luke Lambert Historically on Road Courses
· Lambert has 16 starts in the Cup Series atop the box at road course events, including eight at WGI, six at Sonoma, and two at the ROVAL. Overall he has two top-10s, with a best result of eighth at Sonoma with Ryan Newman back in 2016.
· Lambert also has three Xfinity starts at road courses with a top result of fourth coming in 2012 with Elliott Sadler at Montreal.
QUOTE WORTHY
Buescher on racing at the Daytona RC:
“There’s a little bit of nerves knowing that our first laps on track are going to be side by side 20 rows deep, but definitely something that is going to be interesting. It is unfortunate we are not able to go to The Glen, but NASCAR has done a good job to figure out how to make this schedule work, and I’m excited to give the road course a shot and see what we can do. The programs we have and everything we are able to build out are very dependent on going to a track once before, and being able to have data and something to base everything off of. We don’t have that this time and are flying in blind, so we’re doing our best to collectively be as prepared as possible going in.”
Last Time Out
Buescher finished 20th in both Michigan events last weekend.
Where They Rank
Buescher is 23rd in driver standings through 22 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.
Represented on the decklid will be the Go Blue 500 Sales Event, running now through the end of September, which offers great savings on top brands that partner with Fastenal to support the No. 17 Fastenal Ford. The 10-Year Partnership logo will also be featured on the hood, celebrating Fastenal and Roush Fenway Racing’s 10-year anniversary.
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.
