BROOKLYN, MI – August 8, 2023 – Ford Performance and Roush Yates Engines won their ninth straight NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway with Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher in the FireKeepers Casino 400. This victory marked 724 all-time wins for Ford Performance and back-to-back wins for Chris Buescher and RFK Racing. Ford retained the Michigan Heritage Trophy, presented to the winning manufacturer at the 2-mile track.
“Congratulations to Ford Performance, Jack, Brad, Scott, Chris, and everyone at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing on back-to-back wins and Ford’s continued success at Michigan,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “We are thankful for the continued leadership and commitment from Ford Motor Company. To win at their home track is monumental.”
“I am so proud of everyone at RFK and what we have been able to accomplish these last few years. To get it here at Ford’s home track, this one is always big. It is Jack’s home track and Brad’s home track and this is where we needed one. To fight for it and have such a clean race there with Truex at the end, he was really close to getting us at one point. We had to keep digging on it. I am really proud of everybody. That was awesome to put our Castrol Edge Mustang in victory lane here at Michigan and we have road courses coming up, I am really excited for those,” commented Buescher.
The FireKeepers Casino 400 was originally scheduled for Sunday but postponed to Monday due to persistent delays for inclement weather. Throughout the race, there were a total of nine cautions for 43 laps, 25 lead changes and 16 different race leaders. Chris Buescher, who started the race in 4th, took the lead for the first time on lap 133 and didn’t back down. After the last round of pitstops, the race came down to a battle between Buescher and Martin Truex Jr. Buescher capped the day by leading a race-high 52 of 200 laps and winning over Truex Jr. by 0.152 seconds. Buescher’s win marks Ford’s 44th Cup win at Michigan International Speedway and extended the longest winning streak by a manufacturer at a track.
Roush Fenway Keselowski teammates Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski finished in P1 and P4 while Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick finished in P8 and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney finished in P9.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series also raced at Michigan on Saturday. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst finished in P6.
Both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series head to the Indy Road Course in Indianapolis, Indiana this weekend.
35 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 452 WINS – 417 POLES
*Photos courtesy of NASCAR Media & Getty Images
About Roush Yates Engines
Roush Yates Engines is a leading-edge engine development company based in Mooresville, NC consisting of two state-of-the-art facilities – Roush Yates Engines and Roush Yates Manufacturing Solutions, a world class AS9100 Rev D/ISO 13485 certified CNC manufacturing facility. The company’s core business includes designing, building and testing purpose-built race engines.
Ford Performance in partnership with Roush Yates Engines is the exclusive engine builder of the NASCAR FR9 Ford V8 engine and Ford Mustang 5.2L V8 engine, used in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series.
With an unparalleled culture of winning and steeped in rich racing history, Roush Yates Engines continues to follow the company’s vision to lead performance engine innovation and staying true to the company’s mission, provide race winning engines through demonstrated power and performance.
