We’ve collected some quotables from NASCAR Cup Series drivers concerning this weekend’s racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway…
Company: Fastenal
Roush Fenway Weekly Advance | Charlotte II
Roush Fenway Weekly Advance | Charlotte II
The NASCAR Cup Series hits the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway for its second event in four days with a shorter, 310.6-mile event under the lights. After Chris Buescher’s top-10 finish in Sunday’s Coke 600, Jack Roush has 80 top-10 runs at the oval at CMS all-time, the fourth-most of any track on the circuit for the NASCAR Hall of Fame owner.
Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5-Mile)
Alsco Uniforms 500
Wednesday, May 27, 2020 | 8 p.m. ET
FS1, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
- Ryan Newman, No. 6 Roush Performance Ford Mustang
- Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang
NASCAR Returns to Action
- NASCAR continues its return to racing Wednesday with the fourth Cup Series event in a 10-day span as Charlotte Motor Speedway hosts its second consecutive race – this time a condensed, 310.6-mile shootout.
- From Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 to Wednesday, cars will turn nearly 1000 miles this week alone as the series is slated for its eighth points race overall of 2020, and fourth in the return of the sport. Following Wednesday’s race, the NCS will then hit five different tracks from May 31 – June 21 in the remainder of the announced scheduled to date.
- Four weeks of NASCAR action were completed prior to the hiatus with races at Atlanta, Homestead, Texas, Bristol, Richmond, Talladega, Dover and Martinsville postponed.
Wednesday Recap, Sunday Preview
- Ryan Newman appeared poised for a strong run in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, having powered his Roman Ford inside the top-10, before a faulty battery dropped the team off the pace just over halfway through the race.
- Newman recorded a 10th-place finish in stage one, but with only four cautions over the final 150 laps, he was unable to gain all his laps back to settle for a 28th-place finish.
- Buescher picked up three spots during a hectic final two-lap shootout to bring his Fifth Third Ford home 10th in the Coke 600. He and the 17 team overcame an early pit road penalty to record their second top-10 of 2020.
Invert Determines Starting Lineup for Wednesday
The NASCAR Cup Series held a qualifying session for Sunday’s Coke 600 – the first and only scheduled qualifying thus far in NASCAR’s return – as Newman qualified 18th with Buescher 19th. The top-20 invert is back for Wednesday’s race, with Buescher rolling off 11th after a 10th-place run. Newman will fire off 28th after his finish on Sunday.
Golden Sombrero
Roush Fenway won a record four-consecutive Coca-Cola 600’s from 1999-2002 with drivers Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin. During that span, Roush Fenway led 427 laps, including 201 of 400 laps in the 1999 event.
2006 Dominance in the Coca-Cola 600
Roush Fenway had its best overall outing in the Coca-Cola 600 in 2006, when its five entries averaged a 5.4 finish. Roush Fenway Fords finished third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth while leading 52 laps in the event. In 2002, Roush Fenway posted a one-two finish in the event with Martin and Kenseth battling feverishly for the win and combining to lead 67 laps in the race (with Martin taking the win).
Tale of the Tape
Roush Fenway has started 212 NCS races at Charlotte, recording eight total wins with 46 top-five and 80 top-10 finishes. RFR Fords have an average finish of 16.3 with 2627 laps led all-time.
Roush Fenway Charlotte Wins
1992-2 Martin Cup
1995-2 Martin Cup
1998-2 Martin Cup
1999-1 Burton Cup
2000-1 Kenseth Cup
2001-1 Burton Cup
2002-1 Martin Cup
2011-2 Kenseth Cup
1993-2 Martin NXS
1995-2 Martin NXS
1996-1 Martin NXS
1996-2 Martin NXS
1998-1 Martin NXS
1999-1 Martin NXS
2000-1 Burton NXS
2001-2 Biffle NXS
2002-2 Burton NXS
2006-1 Edwards NXS
2011-1 Kenseth NXS
2011-2 Edwards NXS
2011-2 Edwards NXS
2015-1 Buescher NXS
Chris Buescher on Darlington: We’re definitely excited to get back to a real racetrack…
Team: No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Luke Lambert
Twitter: @17RoushTeam, @RoushFenway and @Chris_Buescher
Race Format: 400.2 miles, 293 laps, Stage Lengths: 90-95-108
Darlington 400 – Sunday, May 17 at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
ADVANCE NOTES
NASCAR Returns to Action
- NASCAR makes its return to racing this weekend with a NASCAR Cup Series race that will serve as the first of seven national series races over an 11-day span at two different tracks throughout May.
- The race at the historic South Carolina track will be held without fans in attendance and is slated to be NASCAR’s first on-track action in more than two months as the sport and world have been on pause during COVID-19.
- Following the initial race back on Sunday, the NCS will again visit Darlington for a midweek race under the lights three days later. The May schedule also includes the crown jewel Coca-Cola 600 in its traditional Memorial Day Weekend home for the 60th consecutive season, plus other midweek races in prime time.
- Four weeks of NASCAR action were completed prior to the outbreak before races at Atlanta, Homestead, Texas, Bristol, Richmond, Talladega, Dover and Martinsville were later postponed.
Buescher at Darlington Raceway
- Buescher makes his fifth Cup Series start at Darlington on Sunday, where he carries an average finish of 14.8 – his best of any track on the circuit.
- Buescher finished 12th last fall at ‘The Lady in Black,’ his best in four starts, and has finished no worse than 17th dating back to 2016.
- After qualifying 31st and 27th in his first two events at Darlington, Buescher followed that with qualifying efforts of 19th and 12th in the last two events.
- Buescher earned a Xfinity career-best fifth-place run at Darlington back in 2015 in the No. 60 RFR entry. He also finished 12th two years prior in the No. 16 for Jack Roush.
Luke Lambert at Darlington Raceway
- Lambert will be atop the box for his eighth NCS race at Darlington on Sunday. In seven prior events, he has an average finish of 16.4 including three top-10 runs.
- All three of those came with Newman in the No. 31, with a 10th-place result in 2014, an eighth-place finish in 2016 followed by seventh a year later.
- Lambert also has one Xfinity Series race under his belt at Darlington with Elliott Sadler in 2012, finishing 24th.
QUOTE WORTHY
Buescher on racing at Darlington:
“We’re definitely excited to get back to a real racetrack. Darlington is probably my second-favorite racetrack, so I’m stoked about kicking it off there. It’s going to be tough with no practice and no fans, the atmosphere is going to be a lot different, but it’ll be great to be back to a racing routine.”
The Real Heroes Project Debuts at Darlington
NASCAR is collaborating with other professional sports properties across the country to embark on The Real Heroes Project. The goal is to motivate and inspire healthcare workers as sports only can, by turning its greatest heroes (the athletes) into their greatest fans. To that end, the name of a COVID-19 frontline worker will be displayed above the driver’s side door on each entry this weekend at Darlington.
For the first race back on May 17, NASCAR worked in partnership with FOX and their tune-in priority market affiliate program to select the COVID-19 worker being recognized. FOX affiliates from around the country were asked to nominate a local hero from their community to be recognized during the return. Buescher’s frontline worker will be Kimberly W. Ebb, MD, selected by WFXT Boston 25. Ebb is a Hospitalist, Medical Director, Division of Palliative Care, Home Health Hospice at the UMass Memorial Medical Center, hailing from Leominster, MA.
On the Car
Fastenal celebrates its 10th season with Roush Fenway Racing in 2020. The Minnesota company spent three years on the No. 99 before jumping to the No. 17 Cup Series entry, and were the primary partner on the No. 60 Xfinity team 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.
eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series – Roush Fenway Advance
eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series – Advance
Teams: No. 6 Oscar Mayer Ford Mustang & No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang
Drivers: Ross Chastain (No. 6) & Chris Buescher (No. 17)
Twitter: @RoushFenway, @Roush6Team, @17RoushTeam
Hashtag: #ProInvitationalSeries
eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series – Sunday, March 22 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, FOX Sports App
ADVANCE NOTES
Event Details
- Titled FOX NASCAR iRACING, the 90-minute, simulation style eSports program includes a cross-section of competitors from the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series and a group of NASCAR dignitaries.
- FS1 and the FOX Sports App will carry all of Sunday’s action from the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway.
- Ross Chastain will run Sunday’s race from his iRacing rig at his home, while Chris Buescher will use a customized rig from Roush Fenway’s campus in Concord, NC.
Buescher at Homestead-Miami Speedway
- Buescher has six career NASCAR starts at Homestead-Miami, including four in the Cup Series. His best finish came in the season finale last year, where he drove the No. 37 machine to a 16th-place finish.
- In two Xfinity races at the 1.5-mile track, Buescher earned finishes of fifth (2014) and 11th (2015) in the No. 60 for Jack Roush.
Chastain at Homestead-Miami Speedway
- Chastain enters Sunday’s action with 13 career NASCAR starts on the 1.5-mile Homestead pavement, including two in the Cup Series.
- In Xfinity Series action, the Melon Man has a best finish of 14th, which came back in 2014 in the No. 10 car.
- Chastain’s best career result at Homestead came in the Truck Series just last season, where he drove the No. 45 entry to a fourth-place run, just missing the series championship.
On the eCar
Keeping true to their on-track Roush Fenway Racing schemes, both Buescher and Chastain will run their respective partner colors in Sunday’s iRacing event at Homestead. Buescher will carry longtime No. 17 team partner Fastenal aboard his Ford Mustang, while Chastain will run the bright orange and yellow Oscar Mayer scheme.
NASCAR/iRacing History
NASCAR and iRacing have an unprecedented history in the esports space, currently in the 11th season of the longest-running officially sanctioned esports racing series, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. It features 40 of the best sim racers in the world competing for more than $300,000, one of the richest payouts in esports racing competition.
Roush Fenway’s 2020 lineup includes Nathan Lyon, driver of the No. 6 and a native of St. Louis Missouri, and Kollin Keister, driver of the No. 17, who hails from Frostburg, Maryland.
Roush Fenway Gaming Familiar with Homestead
Virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway is the site of Roush Fenway Gaming’s 2019 Coca-Cola iRacing Series Championship, where Zack Novak drove the No. 6 Ford to the series title and claimed the $40,000 top prize.