Team: No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Twitter: @RFK17Team, @RFKRacing and @Chris_Buescher
Race Format: 500 miles, 200 laps
Qualifying – Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
Duels – Thursday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
Daytona 500 – Sunday, Feb. 20 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
ADVANCE NOTES
Speedweeks Format
· While the schedule for Daytona Speedweeks has changed over the years, the format remains the same for teams heading into the Daytona 500.
· Following a pair of practice sessions Tuesday evening, drivers will go for the pole in qualifying Wednesday night, which sets the lineup for the front row for Sunday’s Daytona 500.
· That qualifying session will feature two rounds, with the top-10 speeds in round one moving on to round two. The fastest two cars in round two will lock in as the front row.
· The single-car qualifying results otherwise will set the lineups for Thursday’s duels. Cars finishing first, third, fifth, seventh, etc. in single-car runs will comprise the field for Duel 1. The cars in even-numbered positions will comprise the field for Duel 2.
· Results from those Duels will set the starting lineup for ‘The Great American Race.’ The finishers from Duel 1 will line up on the inside row in order of their Duel finish, while the finishers from Duel 2 will line up outside in order of their finish.
Buescher at Daytona International Speedway
· Buescher makes his 13th Cup start on the oval at DIS on Sunday, and seventh in the Daytona 500.
· In 12 prior events, Buescher has five top-10s, including three inside the top-five. His best Daytona 500 result came just two years ago when he ran third (2020), and also has a fifth-place finish in the 500 back in 2018.
· Buescher’s best starting position in the 500 came back in 2019 when he started 15th. Thursday will be his seventh start in the Duels, a race he has four-straight top-10 finishes in with a 10th-place run the last two seasons. Overall he has five top-10s in six Duel races.
· In three NXS races on the oval, Buescher had a best finish of second in Jack Roush’s No. 60 entry in 2015.
Scott Graves at Daytona International Speedway
· Scott Graves enters his seventh full-time season in the NCS, and is re-paired with the driver he won the 2015 Xfinity Series title with.
· Graves will call his 12th race from Daytona on Sunday, and sixth Daytona 500. His best 500 finish came with Ryan Newman in 2020 (ninth), and overall the duo had three top-10s at ‘The World Center of Racing’ in their last five races there together.
· Graves was also on the box for six Xfinity events in Daytona with two top-10s, including a runner-up finish with Buescher in the 2015 season opener.
QUOTE WORTHY
Buescher on racing in the 500:
“More than anything I’m ready to get to a track and race, as this has been one of the longer off-season’s anyone has ever endured. We have had a lot going on with everything new at RFK, but many of the facts remain the same in that our goal is to compete for wins every week, and Daytona and the 500 is a great place to start that. This year is already exciting, and I’m thrilled to get it going this week in Florida.”
Last Time Out
Buescher failed to advance to the main event at the Clash at the Coliseum two weeks ago in Los Angeles.
On the Car
Fastenal returns as the anchor partner for the No. 17 RFK team for its 12th season in 2022. Their first three years with then RFR were with the No. 99 team, before moving over to the No. 17 team since then. They also were the primary partner on the No. 60 Xfinity Series entry that captured the owner’s championship in 2011.
Fastenal will feature top suppliers MCR Safety, Dewalt, Norseman, MSA and Berkshire on Buescher’s Mustang as he competes in the Daytona 500. For more information on these suppliers, visit Fastenal.com, and stay up-do-date on social @FastenalCompany.
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.
