Team: No. 17 Wyndham Rewards Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Twitter: @RFK17Team, @RFKRacing and @Chris_Buescher
Race Format: 400 miles, 267 laps, Stages: 65-65-70
Practice – Saturday, March 5 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS2, SiriusXM Channel 90
Qualifying – Saturday, March 5 at 2:05 p.m. ET on FS1, SiriusXM Channel 90
Race – Sunday, March 6 at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
ADVANCE NOTES
Weekend Format
· With practice and qualifying back on the horizon for the NASCAR Cup Series, with it comes a unique format. For Las Vegas, the field will be separated into two groups who will each have a 15-minute warm-up/practice.
· Immediately following that brief session, qualifying will begin, also split into two groups, with the top five fastest cars in each group transferring to the final round. The final round of qualifying to determine the pole sitter will feature 10 cars, as all qualifying this weekend will include just one lap per car.
Buescher at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
· Buescher makes his 11th Cup start at Las Vegas this weekend, where he carries an average finish of 17.7 with one top-10 (ninth – 2020).
· Most recently Buescher ran 14th in last season’s spring race and finished 25th last fall.
· His best qualifying effort of 16th came in the 2020 fall race, and overall he has a 24.3 average starting position.
· Buescher made two Xfinity Series starts at Las Vegas and recorded a best finish of ninth (2014) in the No. 60 entry for Jack Roush.
Scott Graves at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
· Graves will be on the box for his 10th Cup race Sunday at Las Vegas where he has two top-10s and an average finish of 18.4.
· Graves led Daniel Suarez to an eighth-place run in 2018 fall race, and followed that with a P10 finish with Ryan Newman a year later. Last spring in this race the duo finished 18th.
· Graves also called three Xfinity Series events from LVMS, earning a second-place finish with Suarez in 2016, and a ninth-place run with Buescher in 2014.
QUOTE WORTHY
Buescher on racing at Las Vegas:
“Coming out of Fontana we are confident in the speed we showed early on, and we need a good run this weekend given our finishes the last two weeks. Vegas carries a ton of speed at all points and is a fun track to drive. We’re proud to carry Wyndham Rewards with us on the No. 17 this weekend and look forward to putting their sharp, new scheme on track Saturday.”
Last Time Out
Buescher was well inside the top-15 and improving in Sunday’s race from Fontana, but a cut tire entering the turn sent him spinning into the outside wall, which ultimately caused damage too severe ending his day early in 35th.
On the Car
Wyndham Rewards – who initially joined the RFK family of partners in 2018 – will be aboard the No. 17 with Chris Buescher this weekend in Las Vegas. The brand has served as a primary partner for the No. 6 team the last five years, and this year will be a primary on both RFK entries at select races.
About Wyndham Rewards
Wyndham Rewards® is the world’s most generous rewards program with more than 50,000 hotels, vacation club resorts and vacation rentals worldwide. Designed for the everyday traveler, members earn a guaranteed 1,000 points with every qualified stay and may redeem points for a wide range of rewards, including free nights at over 8,900 hotels or thousands of vacation club resorts and vacation rentals globally through affiliation with Wyndham Destinations and others. Wyndham Rewards has 86 million enrolled members around the globe. Join for free today at www.wyndhamrewards.com. You’ve earned this.®
