No. 17 Team Earns Third Top-10 in Four Weeks; Keselowski Finishes 34th at Road Course
AUSTIN, Texas (March 24, 2024) – Chris Buescher drove to an impressive eighth-place finish at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) Sunday afternoon to lead all Ford drivers, while Brad Keselowski finished 34th in the Castrol Edge Ford.
The top-10 marks the third-straight for Buescher, who also now has three-straight top-10 efforts on road courses dating back to 2023. Keselowski earned a sixth-place finish in stage two, earning valuable stage points.
6 Recap
Keselowski had an up-and-down day in Austin after starting from the 34th position based on group qualifying Saturday. In a race that ran all green – minus the stage breaks – Keselowski and the Castrol Edge team employed strategy to flip track position by the end of the stage (lap 15). They did just that, finishing 12th by the end of the stage, and would line back up 22nd for stage two.
The team would do the same thing again in stage two, leaving Keselowski on track as a majority of the pack hit pit road by the stage end. The No. 6 would earn a sixth-place finish in the segment, setting him up with stage points and 20th to restart the final stage.
From there, Keselowski battled to a 34th-place result.
17 Recap
Buescher again drove his way through the field after going to the rear prior to the race for a mechanical change (steering rack). The Fastenal team used somewhat of an opposite strategy than the No. 6, pitting prior to the stage end in both race scenarios.
After starting from the tail end, Buescher drove to 26th by the time of his first stop at lap 12, finishing in the same spot to end the stage (lap 15). He restarted 22nd in the segment, and again hit pit road from the 14th position at lap 25. He went on to end the stage in 18th, which set him up for a top-10 position to begin the final run to the finish.
He fired off eighth at lap 33, and after his final pit stop at lap 44 under green, drove back into the top-10 and remained there to earn the eighth-place result.
“We were behind the eight ball to get started there, having to drop to the rear,” Buescher said following the race. “We had a freak deal happen with a parts failure in practice and qualifying. That was unfortunate but I am proud of everybody on this Fastenal Ford Mustang team to pick ‘em off all day long.
“That was the name of the game. We knew we would be in a really tough spot all day and we knew we would need a handful of things to fall our way if we were going to compete for a win. I am proud of the top-10 finish. We had some big gains. We have some stuff that we learned and we will be better next time.”
Up Next
Richmond Raceway hosts the seventh race of the season next weekend, with a night race set for Easter Sunday. Race coverage is set for 7 p.m. ET on FOX, with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
About RFK Racing
RFK Racing, in its 37th season in 2024, features an ownership lineup pairing one of the sport’s most iconic names, Jack Roush, along with NASCAR Champion, Brad Keselowski, and Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry. Roush initially founded the team in 1988 and it has since become one of the most successful racing operations in the world, propelling him to be the first NASCAR owner to amass three hundred wins and capturing eight championships, including back-to-back NASCAR Cup titles in 2003 and 2004. Keselowski, a former owner in the NASCAR Truck Series, is the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. In 2007, Roush partnered with Henry, who also owns Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, English Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, to form Roush Fenway Racing. Off the track, RFK is a leader and proven winner in NASCAR marketing solutions, having produced multiple award-winning social media, digital content and experiential marketing campaigns. Visit rfkracing.com, and follow the team on all social platforms @rfkracing.
