Kansas II Event Info:
Track Info: Kansas Speedway, 1.5-mile oval
Date: Sunday, Sept. 10
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Kansas City, Kansas
Format: 267 laps, 400 miles, Stages: 80-85-102
TV: USA
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)
Weekend Schedule:
Saturday: 12 p.m. ET, Practice (USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 12:45 p.m. ET, Qualifying (USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 3 p.m. ET, Race (USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Pace Laps:
- Kansas hosts its second race of the 2023 season, and second race in the Round of 16 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
- Chris Buescher enters the weekend with top-three finishes in four of the last six races, while Brad Keselowski has finished sixth or better in four of the last six races.
- In support of the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation (MTJF), in conjunction with AdventHealth and the NASCAR Foundation, RFK will run the names of cancer heroes on its Ford Mustangs this weekend as part of the Honor A Cancer Hero (HCH) program.
- Donna Cook, a cancer survivor from Millington, Illinois, will ride on the No. 17 with Buescher this weekend. Cody Wulff, a native of Kimball, South Dakota, who was on Keselowski’s car last season for this same initiative, will again be on Keselowski’s No. 6 this weekend.
6 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Matt McCall
Partner: BuildSubmarines.com
17 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Fastenal
Keselowski at Kansas
Starts: 27
Wins: 2 (2011, 2019)
Top-10s: 13
Poles: 2 (2015, 2021)
- Keselowski makes his 28th Cup start at Kansas on Sunday. He has victories there in 2011 and 2019, and overall carries an average finish of 12.4. He’s coming off a 19th-place finish there this spring, and finished 25th last fall.
- Keselowski’s average starting position is 11.3 with two career poles (2015, 2021).
- He made a combined 10 starts in the Xfinity and Truck Series with one win and five combined top-10s.
Buescher at Kansas
Starts: 15
Wins: —
Top-10s: 3
Poles: —
- Buescher makes his 16th start at Kansas on Sunday. Overall he has three top-10s at the 1.5-mile track with a 15th-place finish last fall. His best result came in 2017 when he ran sixth that fall.
- He finished eighth in the 2021 spring race, and is coming off a 17th-place finish this May.
- Buescher has an average starting position of 20th at Kansas with a career best P10 starting position (2018, 2022).
- Buescher made three Xfinity starts at Kansas from 2013-15 with a best finish of sixth (2015).
RFK Historically at Kansas
Cup Wins: 4 (Mark Martin, 2005; Greg Biffle, 2007, 2010; Matt Kenseth, 2012)
- Follow the Yellow Brick Road: Overall, RFK has started 181 races across the three national series, earning nine wins, 41 top-five finishes, 76 top-10 finishes and has an overall average finish of 15th.
- Winning at Kansas: RFK swept both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NCS races at Kansas in the fall of 2012 with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Matt Kenseth. Stenhouse became the sixth driver to win at the track for the organization via his Xfinity victory. NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin earned RFK’s first NCS win at Kansas in 2005 and former driver Greg Biffle bested the 1.5-mile track in 2007 and 2010. RFK’s first overall win at Kansas came in 2002 via Jeff Burton in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Three drivers (Jon Wood in 2003, Carl Edwards in 2004 and Erik Darnell in 2007) have won in the NCWTS at Kansas for RFK.
- Tale of the Tape: RFK has started 112 NCS races at Kansas, recording four victories, 20 top-five finishes, 36 top-10 finishes, an average finish of 16.7 and has led 970 laps. Kenseth earned the most recent victory at Kansas in the fall of 2012.
RFK Kansas Wins
2002 Burton NXS
2003 Wood Truck
2004 Edwards Truck
2005 Martin Cup
2007 Biffle Cup
2007 Darnell Truck
2010 Biffle Cup
2012-2 Kenseth Cup
2012 Stenhouse NXS
Last Time Out & Where They Stand
Darlington: RFK again put both of its Ford Mustangs in the top-10 at Darlington last weekend as Buescher finished third – his fifth finish of seventh or better in the last six races – while Keselowski ran sixth for his 12th top-10 of the season. It marked the seventh time this season both RFK Fords have finished top-10.
Points Standings (17: 4th, 6: 8th): Buescher heads into the weekend comfortably in fourth, while Keselowski is up a position to eighth entering the second race of the Round of 16.
By the Numbers at Kansas
Race Win T5 T10 Pole Laps Led AvSt AvFn Miles
112 4 20 36 2 28655 970 17.2 16.7 42982.5
50 2 14 28 3 9699 383 12.9 12.9 14548.5
19 3 7 12 0 3059 229 9.9 11.0 4588.5
181 9 41 76 5 41413 1582 14.8 15.1 62119.5
