COTA Event Info:
Track Info: Circuit of the Americas, 3.426-mile road course
Date: Sunday, March 26
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Austin, Texas
Format: 68 laps, 231.88 miles, Stages: 15-15-38
TV: FOX
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Weekend Schedule:
Friday: 2:05 p.m. ET, Practice (No TV)
Saturday: 11:30 a.m. ET, Qualifying (FS1, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 3:30 p.m. ET, Race (FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
6 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Matt McCall
Partner: Wyndham Rewards
17 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Fifth Third Bank
- As part of the Fueled by Fifth Third Program, Crunch Fitness will ride on the decklid of the No. 17 this weekend at COTA. Crunch Fitness is best known of its colorful personality and world-class group fitness classes. Crunch embraces a no judgments philosophy. This means positivity, inclusivity, and tons of fun for everyone.
- Crunch is known for its innovative group fitness programming and will offer a wide range of classes every week including BodyWeb with TRX, Zumba, Cardio Tai Box, Yoga Body Scult, Fat Burning Pilates and more in the gym’s group fitness studio.
- Crunch is all about YOU:
- You get more value per dollar at Crunch than any other brand in the industry
- Memberships start at $9.99 per month
- No long term contracts
- Opened and staffed 24/7
Pace Laps:
- The Cup Series heads to the first of six road courses races this season as COTA, the 20-turn, nearly 3.5-mile circuit, hosts the NCS for the third time.
- The weekend schedule again features a rare, full practice session as a 50-minute practice is slated for Friday. NASCAR also implemented new rule changes at road courses for 2023 with the following going into effect for the first time this weekend: stage break cautions have been eliminated with stage points still being awarded to drivers at the predetermined stage end lap. The field will not be slowed by the green-checkered flag indicating a stage break.
- It’s a trip home for Chris Buescher as his hometown of Prosper, Texas, sits 230 miles from the Austin area. Brad Keselowski enters the weekend in search of his first-ever win on a road course.
- Jack Roush has 15 road course wins including five in the Cup Series.
- Buescher has finished inside the top-10 in the last five road course events and last season had an average finish of ninth at those tracks.
Keselowski at COTA
Starts: 2
Wins: —
Top-10s: —
Poles: —
- Keselowski makes his third start at COTA this weekend and 38th Cup start on a road course. He finished 14th a season ago in Texas, and ran 19th in the series’ first race on the 3+ mile circuit.
- In road course action in his Cup career, Keselowski has 11 top-10s and seven finishes inside the top five with a 15.9 average finish. He has multiple second-place finishes, all at Watkins Glen, and last year had a best road course run of 10th at Sonoma.
- Keselowski has a 15.4 average starting position on road courses.
Buescher at COTA
Starts: 2
Wins: —
Top-10s: —
Poles: —
- Buescher makes his third start at COTA on Sunday and 27th Cup start on a road course. He finished 13th in the first-ever race there in 2021 that was shortened by rain, and ran 21st last season in his home state of Texas.
- Overall in road course racing in his Cup career, Buescher has seven top-10s, three top fives and an average finish of 15.1.
- Buescher has five-straight top-10 finishes on road courses dating back to last season. He finished sixth at the ROVAL last fall, ninth at Watkins Glen, 10th at the Indy Road Course, sixth at Road America and second at Sonoma.
- Buescher has an average starting position of 18.1 on road courses and last season started inside the top-10 in three of the six road course races.
RFK Historically on Road Courses
Cup Wins: 5 (Mark Martin, 1993-94-95, Watkins Glen; Mark Martin, 1997, Sonoma; Carl Edwards, 2014, Sonoma)
- RFK on the Road: As an organization, RFK has made 244 starts on road courses in the Cup Series with five wins, 85 top-10s and 40 finishes inside the top five with a 17.5 average finish.
- Martin Goes Three-Straight in N.Y.: NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin is responsible for four of Jack Roush’s road course wins all-time, including three-straight at Watkins Glen from 1993-95. Martin dominated the three years, leading a combined 183 laps, and won all three from the pole. He also won once in Sonoma, in 1997, after also starting from the point to lead 69 of the 74 laps.
- Edwards Victorious Four Times, at Four Different Road Courses: Carl Edwards also visited victory lane for Jack Roush at Sonoma, driving to the win in 2014 after starting fourth. In Xfinity action, Edwards was victorious at WGI in 2012, Road America in 2010, and Montreal in 2009. In the 2012 event in New York, current crew chief Scott Graves was atop the box for one of his two Xfinity wins all-time on road courses.
- Buescher, Graves Former Road Course Winners: In Buescher’s first full-time Xfinity season in 2014, he and Graves found victory lane at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August, which also fell on August 16. Buescher led 25 laps that day in the No. 60 entry for Roush.
RFK Road Course Wins
1993-1 Martin WGI-Cup
1994-1 Martin WGI-Cup
1995-1 Martin WGI-Cup
1997-1 Martin Son-Cup
2014-1 Edwards Son-Cup
2012-1 Edwards WGI-NXS
2010-1 Edwards RA-NXS
2009-1 Edwards Mon-NXS
2014-1 Buescher Mid-O NXS
1998-1 Ruttman WGI-Truck
2000-1 Biffle WGI-Truck
1997-1 Ruttman Top-Truck
1999-1 Bliss Top-Truck
1997-1 Ruttman Son-Truck
1999-1 Biffle Port-Truck
Last Time Out & Where They Stand
Atlanta: Brad Keselowski led the second-most laps and had the lead at the white flag in Sunday’s race at Atlanta but finished second to Joey Logano. Chris Buescher had one of the fastest cars in the field but was caught up in a multi-car incident at lap 189 ending his day early.
Points Standings (6: 5th, 17: 13th): Keselowski sits just 17 points out of first entering the weekend in fifth, while Buescher is 13th with less than a 20-point gap separating him from the ninth spot.
By the Numbers on Road Courses
Race Win T5 T10 Pole Laps Led AvSt AvFn Miles
244 5 40 85 0 22730 585 18.6 17.5 52210.1
111 4 18 40 0 7565 188 14.7 16.5 20414.0
27 6 13 17 0 1784 114 9.3 9.7 3874.1
382 15 71 142 0 32079 887 16.5 16.7 76498.2
