Daytona II Event Info:
Date: Saturday, Aug. 29
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Format: 160 Laps, 400 Miles, Stages: 35-90-160
TV: NBC
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)
Weekend Schedule:
Friday: 5:00 p.m. ET, Cup Qualifying (TruTV, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 7:30 p.m. ET, Cup Race (NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
STORYLINES:
Brad Keselowski – For Brad Keselowski, this isn’t just another race at Daytona, sixty-six points below the cutoff; the veteran knows the math is brutal, but Daytona has never been a place where the impossible feels impossible especially for the championship winning driver. He’s already shown he can run at the front of this place, finishing fifth in the Daytona 500 earlier this year. Now, Keselowski needs the kind of wild, late-race shakeup that can turn a long shot into a Chase berth.
Chris Buescher – Buescher heads to Daytona International Speedway with a secured spot in the 2026 Chase. Sitting tenth in the standings, Saturday night presents an opportunity to shift the focus from securing his spot to climbing the ladder to the championship. Buescher won the annual summer race in 2023 after leading the final two laps, he additionally has eleven top 10s overall at DIS with a 17.7 average finish.
Ryan Preece – 31 points. That’s all that stands between Ryan Preece and his spot in The Chase. In a season where the odds at times seemed stacked against him, Preece is ready to give it his all —his final swing at a shot at a championship dream that is within reach. Now, with the final Chase spot just 31 points away, Preece isn’t chasing a miracle… he’s chasing destiny.
Pace Laps:
- The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Daytona International Speedway this weekend for the annual summer event, and the last regular-season race before the start of the Cup Series playoffs.
- Jack Roush has 12 wins overall at Daytona, including eight in the NASCAR Cup Series.
- Chris Buescher makes his 22nd Cup start at Daytona this weekend where he won the annual summer race in 2023 after leading the final two laps. He has eleven top 10s overall at DIS with a 17.7 average finish.
- Brad Keselowski makes his 35th Cup start at ‘The World Center of Racing’ this weekend. He is the 2016 winner of the summer race just ten years ago and overall has nine top 10s and a 21.7 average finish. Three seasons ago in the summer race, he pushed teammate Buescher to win as RFK earned a 1-2 finish.
- Keselowski has led laps in each of his last five races and is the 2016 Coke Zero 400 winner at Daytona where he led 115 laps. His crew chief Jeremy Bullins won last season’s summer event with Harrison Burton to lock the No. 21 car into the playoffs.
- Ryan Preece’s best Daytona finish came in the summer of 2021 when he placed fourth in the No. 37 car for JTG-Daughtery Racing. Preece also finished in the top 10 in both Daytona races in 2021, one of two drivers that season to do so alongside Chase Elliott.
6 Team Info:
Driver: Brad Keselowski
Crew Chief: Jeremy Bullins
Partner: Consumer Cellular
- The No. 6 Consumer Cellular Ford will honor Cora “Granny” Norton on the nameplate this weekend at Daytona as part of the NASCAR Foundation’s Honor a Cancer Hero Initiative. Cora was chosen by her family to be represented by Brad Keselowski as he was her upmost favorite NASCAR driver.
17 Team Info:
Driver: Chris Buescher
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Fifth Third
The No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford will carry the name of Jimmy C. Spencer on the nameplate this weekend at Daytona, as part of the NASCAR Foundation’s Honor a Cancer Hero Initiative. Chris Buescher was selected for the tribute, as Jimmy worked hauling for Roush Protofab Racing in the early 80s, and Watkins Glen was his favorite track.
This weekend Bonnie Plants adorns the decklid of the No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford; Bonnie Plants believe growing your own garden should be simple, accessible, and attainable. With over a century of experience growing fresh, quality plants, we want to be your go-to partner in successfully growing delicious, fresh food, right at home.
100+ Years of Growing Expertise: Bonnie Plants has been helping people grow their own food since 1918, starting with Bonnie and Livingston Paulk selling cabbage plants from a buggy in Union Springs, Alabama.
Making Gardening Accessible: Bonnie believes growing your own food should be simple, accessible, and attainable, whether you’re planting your first garden or have decades of experience.
More Than Just Plants: Bonnie aims to be a trusted gardening resource, providing growing guides, tips, inspiration, and advice to help gardeners succeed from planting through harvest.
Growing the Next Generation: Through programs like the 3rd Grade Cabbage Program, Bonnie provides more than a million free cabbage plants annually to students, helping inspire the next generation of gardener
Today, Bonnie Plants are available in all 50 states and on BonniePlants.com. They come in nearly 300 plant varieties (including Organics!). Our plants don’t have to travel far to make it to you, either, as we now have over 70 growing stations across the country.
60 Team Info:
Driver: Ryan Preece
Crew Chief: Derrick Finley
Partner: Kroger / OIKOS
The No. 60 Kroger / OIKOS Ford will feature the name of Jimmy C. Spencer on the nameplate this weekend at Daytona, as part of the NASCAR Foundation’s Honor a Cancer Hero Initiative. Jimmy’s family also chose Ryan Preece for the honor, as his grandfather once hauled cars for Roush Protofab Racing, and the family has long been fans of Preece.
Keselowski at Daytona
Starts: 34
Wins: 1 (July 2016)
Top-10s: 9
Poles: —
Keselowski makes his 35th Cup start at ‘The World Center of Racing’ this weekend. He is the 2016 winner of the summer race just ten years ago and overall has nine top 10s and a 21.7 average finish.
Three seasons ago in the summer race, he pushed teammate Buescher to win as RFK earned a 1-2 finish.
Keselowski has 11 starts inside the top 10 at Daytona with a career-best P3 starting position (four times).
In Xfinity Series action, Keselowski made 15 starts at DIS with seven top 10s and a best finish of second (twice – 2012, 2014). He also made three Truck Series starts with a seventh-place run in 2005.
Buescher at Daytona
Starts: 21
Wins: 1 (2023)
Top-10s: 11
Poles: —
Buescher makes his 22nd Cup start at Daytona this weekend where he won the annual summer race in 2023 after leading the final two laps. He has eleven top 10s overall at DIS with a 17.7 average finish.
In the 2024 summer race, he led 10 laps and earned a top 10 finish after starting 24th. He finished 7th in this season’s Daytona 500.
Buescher has four starts inside the top 10 at Daytona, all of which came in the last seven races.
He also made three NXS starts at DIS with a best finish of second (2015).
Preece at Daytona
Starts: 13
Wins: —
Top-10s: 3
Poles: —
Preece makes his 14th overall start at DIS, where he has three top 10 finishes. Earlier this season, he was involved in an incident on the final lap of the race, finished the race in reverse and brought home a P25 finish.
His best Daytona finish came in the summer of 2021 when he placed fourth in the No. 37 car for JTG-Daughtery Racing.
Preece also finished in the top 10 in both Daytona races in 2021, one of two drivers that season to do so alongside Chase Elliott.
RFK Historically at Daytona
Cup Wins: 8 (Jeff Burton, 2000; Greg Biffle, 2003; Jamie McMurray, 2007; Matt Kenseth, 2009, 2012; David Ragan, 2011; Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 2017; Chris Buescher, 2023)
Shining Bright in the Sunshine State: In 234 NCS starts at Daytona, RFK has recorded eight wins, 45 top five, 86 top 10s and has led 1021 laps. RFK also has five poles in the Cup series at Daytona, with the most recent coming in 2016 with Greg Biffle.
Two Trips to Victory Lane in 2017: Just two years after earning his first ever NASCAR win, Ryan Reed survived a wild kickoff to the 2017 season. He survived multiple on-track incidents after starting on the outside of the front row and led only nine laps, but the final two, en route to the win over a host of Cup regulars.
Then, in July of 2017, Stenhouse found himself in victory lane for the second time after leading 17 laps in his Fifth Third Ford. Stenhouse first led at lap 86, and from there survived a total of 14 cautions for 51 laps in what was his second win of the season.
Born in the USA: RFK has recorded six victories in the Summer event at Daytona, including the organization’s first at the high-banked oval with former driver Jeff Burton in 2000. Former RFK drivers Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray, and David Ragan earned victories in 2003, 2007 and 2011, respectively. Stenhouse, Jr. earned the fifth in 2017, and Buescher most recently in 2023.
RFK Daytona Wins
2000-2 Burton Cup
2003-2 Biffle Cup
2004 Edwards Truck
2006 Martin Truck
2007-2 McMurray Cup
2009-1 Kenseth Cup
2011-2 Ragan Cup
2012-1 Kenseth Cup
2015-1 Reed NXS
2023-2 Buescher Cup
Last Time Out & Where They Stand
New Hampshire: With the regular season winding down, and Chase implications on the line, Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing turned up the intensity in New Hampshire. It was a day that helped punch Chris Buescher’s ticket to the Chase and moved Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski closer to the cutline heading into Saturday’s regular season finale’ at Daytona. Among the highlights was stage two, when all three RFK cars earned stage points with top ten finishes. Leading the way on the afternoon was a native New Englander, Preece, who led 17 laps and finished 9th. Keselowski battled from his 25th starting spot to finish 11th. Buescher finished 18th and in doing so became championship eligible, clinching a Chase berth.
Points Standings: Buescher: 10th, Preece: 17th, Keselowski: 18th
Buescher has clinched his spot in The Chase, whereas teammates Preece and Keselowski sit just outside the cutline for the final Chase spot as they enter the final race of the regular season.
