Team: No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Luke Lambert
Twitter: @17RoushTeam, @RoushFenway and @Chris_Buescher
Pennzoil 400 – Sunday, March 7 at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
ADVANCE NOTES
Buescher at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
· Buescher makes his ninth Cup start at Las Vegas on Sunday, where he carries an average finish of 17.2 with one top-10, which came in his most recent outing there last fall.
· In that event, Buescher started 16th but powered to a top-10 in the 400-mile race – one of his eight top-10 finishes in the 2020 season.
· Buescher also ran 14th in the spring race a year ago, one of his four overall top-15s at the 1.5-mile track.
· Buescher had two Xfinity starts at Vegas with a best finish of ninth in 2014 under Scott Graves. A year later the duo went on to finish 14th in the 2015 race.
Luke Lambert at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
· Lambert will call his 12th Cup race at LVMS on Sunday, where he has an average finish of 13.5 with four top-10 finishes.
· In 11 prior starts, Lambert has top result of third, which came with Ryan Newman in 2015. He led Buescher to the ninth-place run last fall, and his 13.5 average finish stands as the best of any track on the circuit in his 10-year stint as a crew chief.
· Lambert also called one Xfinity Series event for Elliott Sadler in 2012, finishing third after starting on the pole.
QUOTE WORTHY
Buescher on racing at Las Vegas:
“Vegas is another opportunity for our team and organization to prove what we’re capable of. While it’s different from Homestead in many ways, it carries a lot of speed and is a place we felt good about after finishing ninth last fall. We’re excited for the opportunity come Sunday, and look forward to another solid day in the Fastenal Ford.”
Last Time Out
Buescher was the talk of the afternoon last Sunday in Homestead, ultimately finishing 19th after winning the opening stage, earning a playoff point and leading 57 laps.
· Buescher passed 11 cars in the opening 53 laps before taking the lead, one he would hold for 57 laps, marking more than he led any prior season in his Cup career.
· It also marked the most laps led for any RFR car on an intermediate track since Carl Edwards paced the field for 68 laps at Atlanta in 2013.
· Buescher took the green-checkered stage one in the lead, marking his second stage win (Talladega last fall). He went on to finish sixth in the second stage, earning a career-high 15 stage points.
Where They Rank
Through three races in the 2021 campaign, Buescher is 15th in driver standings with one playoff point.
On the Car
Fastenal returns to the fold at Roush Fenway for its 11th season in 2021. They 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.
Fastenal will feature top suppliers Loctite, Sqwincher, Norseman, Dupont/Tyvek and Lista on Buescher’s Mustang as he competes this weekend. For more information on these suppliers, visit Fastenal.com, and stay up-do-date on social @FastenalRacing, @Fastenal.
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.
