Team: No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Twitter: @RFK17Team, @RFKRacing and @Chris_Buescher
Race Format: Explained Below
NASCAR All-Star Open – Sunday, May 22 at 5:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
ADVANCE NOTES
Weekend Format
· Buescher is one of 16 drivers who will compete in the All-Star Open on Sunday. Prior to that race, single-lap qualifying will take place Saturday in reverse order of 2022 owner points. The Open race format will break down into three stages – 20 laps, 20 laps, 10 laps. The winner of each stage will advance to the All-Star Race, along with the winner of the Fan Vote.
· For the 125-lap main event, there will be four stages — three 25-lap stages and one 50-lap stage. The winner of stage 1 will start on pole in the final stage as long as they finish 15th or better in stage 2 and stage 3. The winner of stage 2 will start second in the final stage as long as they finish 15th or better in stage 3. The winner of stage 3 will start third in the final stage.
· There will be a special stage break at the conclusion of stage 2 where all teams must pit and perform a four-tire stop. The driver and team with the shortest time on pit road (pit in to pit out) will win the pit-crew award and start fourth in the final stage as long as they finish 15th or better in stage 3.
· Another added feature will be unique to the final stage. If a natural caution does not occur between lap 15 and lap 25, NASCAR officials will throw an “All-Star” competition caution.
Buescher in the All-Star
· Buescher will be in his sixth All-Star preliminary race on Sunday. He made one All-Star Race start (2017).
· Overall at Texas Motor Speedway, Buescher has a best finish of 15th (2018).
Scott Graves in the All-Star
· Graves has three All-Star Race starts all-time – all of which came with Ryan Newman in the No. 6.
· Overall at Texas, Graves has a best finish of 11th (2019 – Newman).
QUOTE WORTHY
Buescher on the All-Star Race:
“Our goal is to obviously put our Fastenal Mustang into the All-Star race by winning a stage or the Open race itself. We were close last year, and despite our poor result in Kansas, we were strong in terms of speed. For me, it’s always great to get back home and I can’t wait to see family and friends ahead of what should be a fun Sunday in Fort Worth.”
Last Time Out
Buescher finished 27th at Kansas after overheating issues put him on pit road under green-flag conditions, ultimately losing multiple laps to the leaders.
On the Car
Fastenal, in its 12th season with RFK in 2022, makes its ninth appearance with the No. 17 this weekend. In its early days with RFK, Fastenal originally was a partner with the No. 99 team before moving over to the No. 17 team since. They were also the primary partner on the No. 60 Xfinity Series entry that captured the owner’s championship in 2011.
Fastenal will feature top suppliers Klever, ARC and Brady on Buescher’s Mustang as he competes this weekend. For more information on these suppliers, visit Fastenal.com, and stay up-do-date on social @FastenalCompany.
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.
