Team: No. 6 Fastenal Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Josh Sell
Twitter: @RFK6Team, @RFKRacing and @keselowski
Race Format: 210 miles, 400 laps, Stages: 100-100-200
Practice – Friday, April 8 at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
Qualifying – Friday, April 8 at 5:05 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
Race – Saturday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
ADVANCE NOTES
Weekend Format
· Practice and qualifying are back in the weekend schedule for the NASCAR Cup Series, which this weekend features a pair of group practice sessions Friday afternoon, immediately followed by group qualifying.
· Qualifying will again be 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.
Keselowski at Martinsville Speedway
· Keselowski, a two-time winner at Martinsville, is set for his 25th Cup start at the .526-mile track. It ranks as his third-best track statistically with a 10.8 average finish (behind only Loudon and Pocono).
· He has finished top-10 in 17 of his 24 starts at ‘The Paperclip,’ good enough for 70 percent of his outings. Of those 17 top-10s, 12 finishes have been inside the top five. Keselowski earned his first Martinsville win back in 2017 in the spring race, and won that same race again two years later.
· Keselowski has finished fifth or better in 11 of his last 14 Martinsville races, and of those finished runner-up twice, as well as third three times.
· His average starting position at Martinsville is 11.4 with one career pole, the fall race in 2020, with 13 starts inside the top-10 all time.
· Keselowski also made four Truck Series starts from 2004-07.
Josh Sell at Martinsville Speedway
· Sell, filling in for Matt McCall as crew chief, will be on the box for his third race as crew chief.
QUOTE WORTHY
Keselowski on racing at Martinsville:
“Martinsville has been a really good track to me over the years and a place that takes patience, but rewards you in the end. Our team has worked extremely hard the last few weeks to turn this thing around, and I think we are beginning to do that. A string of three-straight top-15s is a win for us right now, and we look forward to the opportunity to improve on that even more come Saturday night in the Fastenal Ford Mustang.”
Last Time Out
Keselowski finished top-10 in each of the first two stages Sunday at Richmond, before going on to finish 13th, his third-straight top-15 dating back to Atlanta.
On the Car
Fastenal, in its 12th season with RFK in 2022, makes its second appearance with the No. 6 team this weekend. In its early days with RFK, Fastenal originally was a partner with the No. 99 team before moving over to the No. 17 team since. They were also the primary partner on the No. 60 Xfinity Series entry that captured the owner’s championship in 2011.
Fastenal will feature top suppliers Dewalt, Honeywell, Weiler, Loctite and Steiner Industries on Keselowski’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.
