Team: No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Twitter: @RFK17Team, @RFKRacing and @Chris_Buescher
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.
Buescher at Martinsville Speedway
· Buescher is set for his 14th Cup start at Martinsville this weekend, where he has one top-10 (P9), which came in last fall’s race. In that event he drove from the 15th starting spot to his career-best Martinsville finish.
· Prior to last fall, he had five other top-15 results, including a P13 finish in each of the last two spring races.
· Buescher has an average starting position of 23.9 with a career-best P12 starting spot (2019 spring). He started 15th in both of last season’s races.
Scott Graves at Martinsville Speedway
· Graves will call his 12th Cup race from Martinsville Saturday night where he has two career top-10s, including a best finish of ninth, which came last fall with Buescher.
· Graves has a string of five-straight top-20s, including a P10 finish with Ryan Newman back in 2019, and a 12th-place run the following spring.
· His best starting position of eighth came with Newman in the 2021 spring race, as overall he has a 19.3 average starting position.
QUOTE WORTHY
Buescher on racing at Martinsville:
“I’m excited to get to yet another short track and continue improving on our program that has already proven an uptick from our performance in the past. This race is a little shorter this year, and you can always count on some fireworks with this tight of racing. Consistency is the name of the game this time of year, and we’re looking forward to the weekend in the Fastenal Ford.”
Last Time Out
Buescher earned a career-best 15th-place finish in Sunday’s race from Richmond Raceway.
On the Car
Fastenal, in its 12th season with RFK in 2022, makes its second appearance with the No. 17 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 Kimberly Clark Pro, Ingersoll Rand Co., Danfoss Power Solutions, ND Industries and Walter Surface Technologies 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.
