DAYTONA, FL – August 28, 2023 – Chris Buescher won Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway as Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing finished 1-2 with co-owner/teammate Brad Keselowski finishing second. This race marked the end of the regular NASCAR Cup Series season and set the field for the 2023 playoffs. Six Ford Performance drivers advanced to the playoffs including Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski from RFK Racing, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney from Team Penske, Kevin Harvick from Stewart-Haas Racing, and Michael McDowell from Front Row Motorsports.
“Congratulations to Jack, Brad, Scott, Chris, and everyone at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing on the race win at Daytona,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Chris and Brad raced well together throughout the race to secure the win and are carrying momentum into the playoffs.”
“It’s so awesome. So proud to get Fifth Third Bank in Victory Lane here with this Ford Mustang. What a heck of a push from Brad in those closing laps for that entire restart. We lined up and worked to get connected. We hardly came disconnected those last couple of laps and it was a little squirrely at times, but that’s what we work so hard to execute superspeedway racing for two years now. We’ve been so close. We’ve been within the last five laps of so many of these things to finally get it done here tonight is special,” commented Buescher.
Saturday’s 400-mile race started with seven Ford Performance drivers in the top-10 including Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe and Aric Almirola that started on the front row. Pole-winner Chase Briscoe led a race-high 67 of 163 laps. A large wreck on the last lap of Stage 2 collected 16 cars but Brad Keselowski was able to drive through to take the stage win. Another wreck on lap 156 forced the scheduled 160 lap race into overtime with RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski out front. Brad Keselowski locked bumpers and provided a push to his teammate to secure the win for the #17 team.
A total of five Ford Performance drivers finished in the top 10: RFK Racing teammates Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski in P1 and P2, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola in P3, Team Penske’s Joey Logano in P5, and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick in P9.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series also raced at Daytona on Friday night. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer finished in P5 while RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg finished in P6.
Both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series head to Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina this weekend.
35 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 454 WINS – 417 POLES
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.
