Roush Fenway Weekly Advance | Daytona Road Course
NASCAR will make history this weekend when it visits the Road Course at the famed Daytona International Speedway for a 65-lap race Sunday afternoon, a track only a handful of drivers in the field have experience at, and no practice or qualifying on tap. Jack Roush has 15 wins on road courses all-time, including five in the Cup Series.
Daytona International Speedway Road Course (3.57-Mile)
GoBowling 235
Sunday, Aug. 16 | 3 p.m. ET
NBC, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
· Ryan Newman, No. 6 Guaranteed Rate Ford Mustang
· Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang
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. Ryan Newman will start the race from the 14th position, while Chris Buescher will take the green from the 21st spot in the field.
· 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.
Michigan Recap, Daytona RC Preview
· Buescher drove to a pair of 20th-place results in last weekend’s doubleheader at Michigan.
· Newman was caught up in someone else’s incident in leg one of the doubleheader to finish 28th, but rebounded for a 13th-place run on Sunday.
· Fastenal returns to Buescher’s No. 17 Ford this weekend, and will highlight its Go Blue 500 sales event, as well as the 10-year anniversary logo, celebrating its and Roush Fenway’s 10-year partnership.
· Guaranteed Rate – who first joined Newman’s No. 6 as the primary at Loudon – is back this weekend at Daytona, as the brand announced a partnership extension on Wednesday that will see the brand as the primary partner on 11 of the final 14 races.
Newman No Stranger to Daytona RC
Newman will be one of the few drivers with a leg up and prior experience at the Daytona Road Course come Sunday, having driven the track previously in the former IROC Series. Newman – along with other current Cup stars Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr. – made starts at Daytona in the series from 2003-06. Newman won the 2004 event after starting on the pole in the 40-lap event, and finished third in the final series event at Daytona.
Road Racing Success
As an organization, Roush Fenway has made 352 starts on road courses across NASCAR’s major touring series and has recorded 15 wins, 68 top-fives, 133 top-10s, 11 poles and 879 laps led.
Martin Goes Three-Straight in N.Y.
NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin is responsible for four of Jack Roush’s road course wins all-time, including three-straight at Watkins Glen from 1993-95. Martin dominated the three years, leading a combined 183 laps, and won all three from the pole. He also won once in Sonoma, in 1997, after also starting from the point to lead 69 of the 74 laps.
Edwards Victorious Four Times, at Four Different Courses
Carl Edwards also visited victory lane for Jack Roush at Sonoma, driving to the win in 2014 after starting fourth. In Xfinity action, Edwards was victorious at WGI in 2012, Road America in 2010, and Montreal in 2009.
Edwards Victorious Four Times, at Four Different Courses
Carl Edwards also visited victory lane for Jack Roush at Sonoma, driving to the win in 2014 after starting fourth. In Xfinity action, Edwards was victorious at WGI in 2012, Road America in 2010, and Montreal in 2009. In the 2012 event in New York, current crew chief Scott Graves was atop the box for one of his two Xfinity wins all-time on road courses.
Buescher, Graves Former Road Course Winners
In Buescher’s first full-time Xfinity season in 2014, he and Graves found victory lane at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August, which also fell on August 16. Buescher led 25 laps that day in the No. 60 entry for Roush.
Roush Fenway Road Course Wins
1993-1 Martin WGI-Cup
1994-1 Martin WGI-Cup
1995-1 Martin WGI-Cup
1997-1 Martin Son-Cup
2014-1 Edwards Son-Cup
2012-1 Edwards WGI-NXS
2010-1 Edwards RA-NXS
2009-1 Edwards Mon-NXS
2014-1 Buescher Mid-O NXS
1998-1 Ruttman WGI-Truck
2000-1 Biffle WGI-Truck
1997-1 Ruttman Top-Truck
1999-1 Bliss Top-Truck
1997-1 Ruttman Son-Truck
1999-1 Biffle Port-Truck
