Team: No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Twitter: @RFK17Team, @RFKRacing and @Chris_Buescher
Race Format: 37.5 miles, 150 laps
Single-Car Qualifying – Saturday, Feb. 5 at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
Clash Qualifying Heats – Sunday, Feb. 6 at 3 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
Clash Last-Chance Qualifiers – Sunday, Feb. 6 at 4:10 p.m. ET o FOX, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
Clash at the Coliseum – Sunday, Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
ADVANCE NOTES
Clash Format
· NASCAR takes is annual exhibition, season kickoff event to a venue that has never hosted racing before – the Los Angeles Coliseum – for an action-packed weekend of on-track activity. The sport’s visit to the historic venue for the first time brings with it a new format and a new look.
· Saturday’s on-track activity will get started with a practice session at 12:30 p.m. ET. Qualifying will take place later in the day (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1), which will set the lineup for Sunday’s heat races. Every car entered into the Clash automatically advances to one of the heat races.
· Sunday, drivers will compete in one of four 25-lap heat races with up to 10 cars in each race. The fastest qualifying driver from Saturday will start on pole in the first heat race, second fastest starts on pole in the second heat race and so on.
· The top four finishers in each heat race will automatically advance to the main event, totaling 16 drivers with a ticket to the Sunday night feature. Drivers who do not advance will be placed into one of two 50-lap last chance qualifier (LCQ) races. The top three from each LCQ advance to the Sunday feature.
· The final spot in the 23-man main event is reserved for the driver who finished the highest in the 2021 points standings who does not transfer on finishing position in the heat races or LCQ.
Buescher in the Clash
· Buescher has two starts all-time in the annual Clash event, including a ninth-place finish in 2017 and a 16th-place run in last season’s edition of the Clash.
Scott Graves in the Clash
· Graves has three races under his belt in the Clash event. His best result came in the 2020 Clash when he and Ryan Newman finished fifth. A year prior they ran ninth, and last season finished 14th.
QUOTE WORTHY
Buescher on racing in the Clash:
“Obviously this is by far the newest thing we’ve ever done in our sport, going to a place we’ve never seen and debuting a new race car. While it’s not a points-paying race, it’s an opportunity for us right out of the gate to work out the kinks and hopefully show everyone the progress we’ve made with essentially our new team with some familiar faces mixed in. It’s going to be interesting no matter the way you look at it, and is sure to be entertaining for everyone watching.”
On the Car
Fastenal returns as the anchor partner for the No. 17 RFK team for its 12th season in 2022. Their first three years with then RFR were with the No. 99 team, before moving over to the No. 17 team since then. They also were the primary partner on the No. 60 Xfinity Series entry that captured the owner’s championship in 2011.
About Fastenal
Fastenal [Nasdaq: FAST] is North America’s largest fastener distributor and a ‘one-stop’ source for hundreds of thousands of OEM, MRO and Construction products. With more than 2,600 stores worldwide, the company supports B2B customers with tailored local inventory and dedicated personnel, who visit regularly, quickly respond to emergency needs, and provide efficient inventory management solutions. Fastenal’s service-oriented business network includes the world’s largest industrial vending program, 14 regional distribution centers, 8 custom manufacturing facilities, thousands of delivery vehicles, and industry-leading sourcing, quality and engineering resources.
