Roush Fenway Weekly Advance | Daytona Road Course

Week two of the NASCAR Cup Series season heads right back to Daytona Beach, where the 3.57-mile road course plays host to the second points event of 2021. A large majority of the field – including both Ryan Newman and Chris Buescher – ran 35 laps on the road course just last week in The Clash, while this weekend’s event marks just the second official race on the track in its history. Coverage for Sunday’s race gets underway at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 at Daytona
Sunday, Feb. 21 | 3 p.m. ET
FOX, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
· Ryan Newman, No. 6 Castrol Carbon Neutral Ford Mustang
· Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang

Daytona 500 Recap, Daytona RC Preview

Newman was one of the unfortunate victims of a 15+ car pileup on lap 14 of Sunday’s Daytona 500, which saw the Kohler Generators Ford sustain major rear-end damage, ending his day early.
Buescher was also involved in the crash, although he was able to drive his Fastenal Ford back to pit road. Despite the team’s best repair efforts, he was retired based off the damaged vehicle repair policy, slotting him 31st.
Buescher heads back to Daytona this weekend on the road course, where a season ago he finished fifth. Fastenal returns to his No. 17 machine as part of the weekend.
Newman carries with him a unique look on the Castrol Ford, donning a white and grey muted scheme commemorating the carbon neutral initiative announced Thursday by Roush Fenway. In addition to the car being neutral in color, the team will be outfitted across the board in white, including team firesuits, hats, etc.

Buescher, 17 Team Confident in Heading Back to Daytona RC
Buescher, a prior winner on road courses in his NASCAR tenure, didn’t let the newness of an event halt his progress at the Daytona RC last summer. Buescher was in the hunt late and weaved through the field in the closing laps to finish fifth. It marked his first-ever top five on a road course in the NCS, and Jack Roush’s first top five on a road course since 2014. Last week in The Clash, Buescher finished 16th, but was inside the top five with less than five to go before being spun out by a competitor.

Newman No Stranger to Daytona RC
Newman is one of a few drivers with other series’ experience at the Daytona Road Course, having driven the track previously in the former IROC Series. Newman – along with other current Cup stars Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. – made starts at Daytona in the series from 2003-06. Newman won the 2004 event after starting on the pole in the 40-lap event, and finished third in the final series event at Daytona.

Road Racing Success

As an organization, Roush Fenway has made 354 starts on road courses across NASCAR’s major touring series and has recorded 15 wins, 69 top-fives, 134 top-10s, 11 poles and 879 laps led.

Martin Goes Three-Straight in N.Y.

NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin is responsible for four of Jack Roush’s road course wins all-time, including three-straight at Watkins Glen from 1993-95. Martin dominated the three years, leading a combined 183 laps, and won all three from the pole. He also won once in Sonoma, in 1997, after also starting from the point to lead 69 of the 74 laps.

Edwards Victorious Four Times, at Four Different Courses

Carl Edwards also visited victory lane for Jack Roush at Sonoma, driving to the win in 2014 after starting fourth. In Xfinity action, Edwards was victorious at WGI in 2012, Road America in 2010, and Montreal in 2009. In the 2012 event in New York, current crew chief Scott Graves was atop the box for one of his two Xfinity wins all-time on road courses.

Buescher, Graves Former Road Course Winners

In Buescher’s first full-time Xfinity season in 2014, he and Graves found victory lane at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August, which also fell on August 16. Buescher led 25 laps that day in the No. 60 entry for Roush.

Roush Fenway Road Course Wins
1993-1 Martin WGI-Cup
1994-1 Martin WGI-Cup
1995-1 Martin WGI-Cup
1997-1 Martin Son-Cup
2014-1 Edwards Son-Cup
2012-1 Edwards WGI-NXS
2010-1 Edwards RA-NXS
2009-1 Edwards Mon-NXS
2014-1 Buescher Mid-O NXS
1998-1 Ruttman WGI-Truck
2000-1 Biffle WGI-Truck
1997-1 Ruttman Top-Truck
1999-1 Bliss Top-Truck
1997-1 Ruttman Son-Truck
1999-1 Biffle Port-Truck