RFK Racing – Las Vegas II Advance

Las Vegas Event Info:
Date: Sunday, October 4th
Time: 5:30 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Format: 267 Laps, 400.5 miles, Stages completed at laps: 80-165-267
TV: USA Sports
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)

Weekend Schedule:
Saturday: 4:30 p.m. ET, Cup Practice (TruTV, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 5:30 p.m. ET, Cup Qualifying (TruTV, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 5:30 p.m. ET, Cup Race (USA Sports, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Pace Laps:

  • Las Vegas hosts its annual fall race this weekend as the NASCAR Cup Series embarks on the fifth race in the 2026 Chase.
  • Las Vegas is a track where Jack Roush has had a history of success, including seven wins in the Cup Series alone, and 16 overall.
  • Brad Keselowski is one of six drivers all-time with three-or-more wins at LVMS, joining Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson, and Denny Hamlin.

6 Team Info:
Driver: Brad Keselowski
Crew Chief: Mike Skarbowski
Partner: Consumer Cellular

17 Team Info:
Driver: Chris Buescher
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Castrol

60 Team Info:
Driver: Ryan Preece
Crew Chief: Derrick Finley

Partner: Smith’s/Tree Top

Keselowski at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Starts: 26
Wins: 3 (2014, 2016, 2018)
Top-10s: 15
Poles: 2 (2013, 2017)

  • Keselowski returns to Las Vegas Motor Speedway where he has led a total of 365 laps in his 26 starts at the track.
  • He has finished 10th at LVMS in each of the last two races there.
  • Keselowski is a three-time winner at LVMS, one of 12 tracks he has multiple wins at on the circuit. Overall, he has a 12.4 average finish with 15 top-10s and nine finishes inside the top five in 26 starts.
  • Keselowski first won in Las Vegas in 2014 after starting from the second position and leading 53 laps. He followed that with wins two years apart in 2016 and 2018.
  • The Michigan native has an average starting position of 14.7 with two poles (2013, 2017), and overall, he has nine top-10 qualifying efforts.
  • Keselowski also has a win at Vegas in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (2014) with four overall top-10s in 10 NOAPS starts. He also made one truck start back in 2005.

Buescher at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Starts: 19
Wins: —
Top-10s: 3
Poles: —

  • Buescher makes his 20th Cup start at Las Vegas this weekend, where he carries an average finish of 16.8 with three top-10s
  • His best qualifying effort stands as the P5 starting spot in the 2023 fall race. Overall, he has a 19.4 average starting position.
  • Buescher made two O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starts at Las Vegas and recorded a best finish of ninth (2014) in the No. 60 entry for Jack Roush.

Preece at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Starts: 13
Wins: —
Top-10s: 2
Poles: —

  • Preece makes his 14th Cup start at Las Vegas this weekend, where he holds an average finish of 20.6. He finished inside the top 10 in both races a year ago, finishing 3rd in the Spring and 9th in the Fall.
  • The Connecticut native’s best qualifying effort is a P8 starting spot in the spring race earlier this season. Overall, he has a 22.4 average starting position.
  • His best career finish at a 1.5 mile track came at LVMS in the spring of 2025, finishing 3rd.

RFK Historically at Las Vegas
Cup Wins: 7 (Mark Martin, 1998; Jeff Burton, 1999, 2000; Matt Kenseth, 2003, 2004; Carl Edwards, 2008, 2011)

  • Early JACKpot: RFK hit the Vegas jackpot right off the bat, winning the inaugural Cup event at Las Vegas in 1998. Mark Martin led 82 laps in the victory that served as a banner day for RFK.
  • Inaugural Sweep: RFK placed all five of its Cup entries inside the top 10 of that inaugural Las Vegas Cup race in 1998, including three inside the top five, four inside the top six, one in the winners circle and the runner up (6 – 1st, 99 – 2nd, 26 – 4th, 16 – 6th and 97 – 10th).
  • Continued Success: RFK won the first three Cup races at LVMS from ‘98-’00, with Jeff Burton winning back-to-back events in ’99 and ’00. RFK also took three of the first nine Xfinity Series events at LVMS.
  • Victory Lane at Vegas: In addition to the first three Cup races at LVMS, RFK again found the winners’ circle in 2003 and 2004 at the 1.5-mile track with Matt Kenseth. Carl Edwards took the checkered flag at the 2008 and 2011 events to give RFK seven Cup wins at Las Vegas with four different drivers.
  • Back to Back at Vegas: RFK has won back-to-back Cup races at LVMS on two separate occasions in ’99-’00 and ’03-04’ and once in the Xfinity Series in ‘99 and ‘00.

RFK Las Vegas Wins

1998 Martin Cup

1999 Burton Cup

2000 Burton Cup

2003 Kenseth Cup

2004 Kenseth Cup

2008 Edwards Cup

2011 Edwards Cup

1999 Martin NOAPS

2000 Burton NOAPS

2002 Burton NOAPS

2005 Martin NOAPS

2009 Biffle NOAPS

2012 Stenhouse NXS

1997 Ruttman NCTS

1999 Biffle NCTS

2007 Kvapil NCTS

Last Time Out & Where They Stand
Kansas: Ryan Preece has been nearly a perfect ten during the 2026 Chase. His tenth place finish at Kansas last weekend, led the Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing group, and continued his strong Championship drive which has now consisted of tenth place finishes in all but one of the four Chase races thus far. Brad Keselowski, overcame a close call as he avoided getting collected in a multi-car incident to score a stage points with a tenth place finish in Stage Two. In his first race with newly appointed crew chief, Mike Skarbowski, Keselowski finished 12th. Chris Buescher’s day took a tough turn when he suffered front end damage in the Stage Two incident. Repairs were made and Buescher rallied for a 23rd place finish.

Points Standings:

Ryan Preece 14th
Chris Buescher 15th
Brad Keselowski 18th

About RFK Racing 

RFK Racing, in its 39th season in 2026, 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 and English Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., 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 https://www.rfkracing.com/ and follow the team on all social platforms @rfkracing.

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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

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