Team: No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Twitter: @RFK17Team, @RFKRacing and @Chris_Buescher
Race Format: 500 miles, 188 laps, Stages: 60-60-68
NASCAR Cup Race at Talladega – Sunday, Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
ADVANCE NOTES
Weekend Format
Single-car qualifying is on the schedule for the weekend in Alabama with no practice session – a format used this season at Superspeedway events (Talladega & Daytona).
Buescher at Talladega
- Buescher makes his 15th Cup start at Talladega this weekend where he has two top-10s and a 20.7 average finish. He’s coming off one of his best finishes to date – sixth – in this race last fall, which ties his best finish all time (sixth, 2020 spring race).
- Buescher has an average starting position of 26.9 with a career-best 15th starting spot in the 2020 fall race.
- Buescher also made a pair of NXS starts at Talladega with finishes of second (2014) and sixth (2015) in the No. 60.
Scott Graves at Talladega
- Talladega stands as one of Graves’ best tracks statistically with a 14.3 average finish and five top-10s in 12 starts.
- He’ll be atop the box for his 13th Cup race on Sunday, and has a best finish of second with Ryan Newman in the 2019 fall race. He and Newman had three top-10s together in two seasons.
- He carries an average starting position of 19.2 into the weekend with a career-best qualifying result of seventh (2017 – spring).
QUOTE WORTHY
Buescher on racing at Talladega:
“This is such a fun trip and always an exciting race. Those fans down there know how to have a good time, and it’s always an exciting few days. We know the name of the game in these races is simply to be there at the end, and we’ve done that in past races there, just have to get lucky and put the whole package together come Sunday in our Fastenal Ford.”
Last Time Out
Buescher had the fastest lap of the race Sunday at Texas and had at least a top-10 in his sights, before he fell victim to a blown right rear tire, which ultimately caused too much damage forcing him to retire early.
On the Car
Fastenal, in its 12th season with RFK in 2022, makes its 17th appearance with the No. 17 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 supplier Body Guard on Buescher’s No. 17 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.
