Team: No. 17 ITsavvy Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Twitter: @RFK17Team, @RFKRacing and @Chris_Buescher
Race Format: 312 miles, 312 laps, Stages: 60-125-127
Practice – Saturday, March 12 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
Qualifying – Saturday, March 12 at 2:05 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
Race – Sunday, March 13 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 Phoenix, 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 Phoenix Raceway
· Buescher makes his 13th Cup start at Phoenix this weekend. In 12 prior starts he has a best finish of 16th (twice – 2019).
· Buescher is coming off a 25th-place run in last fall’s event, and an 18th-place run in the 2021 spring race.
· His best qualifying effort stands as 17th, which he accomplished twice, in the 2019 fall race and again in the 2021 spring race. Overall he has a 25.9 average starting position.
· Buescher also made four Xfinity Series starts in Arizona for Jack Roush with a best finish of P12 (2014).
Scott Graves at Phoenix Raceway
· Graves will be on the box for his 11th Cup race from Phoenix this weekend. He has a best result of eighth at the 1-mile track, which came in 2018 with Daniel Suarez. He also led Ryan Newman to a 12th-place run in the 2019 spring race.
· Graves also called seven NXS races in Phoenix with a best finish of third, also with Suarez, in 2016. He followed that with a P5 result in the fall.
QUOTE WORTHY
Buescher on racing at Phoenix:
“We have had some bright spots the last couple weeks, we just have to be more consistent in finding speed in our Ford Mustangs. Phoenix is a challenging place and one we have worked hard on the last couple of years. We need a solid day in the orange ITsavvy Ford come Sunday, and look forward to closing the West Coast Swing on a high note.”
Last Time Out
Buescher finished 18th last weekend in the Wyndham Rewards Ford at Las Vegas.
On the Car
ITsavvy makes its 2022 debut with RFK this weekend as the primary on Buescher’s Ford Mustang in Phoenix. The brand initially joined the RFK family in 2021 as a primary on the No. 6 car. They will return as Buescher’s primary next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
