Team: No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Twitter: @RFK17Team, @RFKRacing and @Chris_Buescher
Race Format: 400 miles, 200 laps
Practice – Saturday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
Qualifying – Saturday, Feb. 26 at 2:35 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
Race – Sunday, Feb. 27 at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
ADVANCE NOTES
Weekend Format
· With practice and qualifying back on the horizon for the NASCAR Cup Series, with it comes a unique format. For Fontana, the field will be separated into two groups who will each have a 15-minute warm-up/practice.
· Immediately following that brief session, qualifying will begin, also split into two groups, with the top five fastest cars in each group transferring to the final round. The final round of qualifying to determine the pole sitter will feature 10 cars, as all qualifying this weekend will include just one lap per car.
Buescher at Auto Club Speedway
· Buescher makes his seventh start in Fontana this weekend where he has an average finish of 23.3. In the last trip to California, Buescher finished 16th in the No. 17 machine in 2020.
· The Texas native has three-straight top-15 qualifying efforts with his best coming in 2020 (11th). Overall his average starting position is 17.7.
· Buescher also has two starts in the Xfinity Series with a best finish of fifth (2015).
Scott Graves at Auto Club Speedway
· Graves will be atop the box for his fifth Cup race from Fontana. He has an average finish of 20.5 with the best result of 17th coming in the last visit in 2020.
· His best qualifying effort came in 2019 with Ryan Newman qualifying.
· Graves has three additional top five results and one pole (2016) in the Xfinity Series. He led Kyle Busch to a third-place run in 2017 in the No. 18, and led Buescher to fifth in 2015.
QUOTE WORTHY
Buescher on racing at Fontana:
“We’re excited to head West and get back to Fontana, a place we haven’t been in a couple years. It is a really fast track, and I’m interested to see how this new car races on it for the first time. Momentum goes a long way in this sport and we have it coming off Daytona. We’re ready for the weekend and can’t wait to get the Fastenal machine on track Saturday morning.”
Last Time Out
Buescher made his presence known throughout Speedweeks in Daytona, winning the second Duel on Thursday night, putting him alongside teammate Brad Keselowski on the second row. He was in the hunt throughout Sunday’s Daytona 500, often running P2 behind Keselowski, but was unfortunately caught up in a multi-car incident with less than 10 to go to finish 17th.
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 Panduit Sales Corp., Ergodyne, GOJO Industries, Greenfield Industries, National Safety Apparel (NSA) and Werner 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 @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.
