05/10/2023
RFK Advance | Darlington I
Darlington I Event Info:
Track Info: Darlington Raceway, 1.366-mile
Date: Sunday, May 14
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Darlington, S.C.
Format: 293 laps, 400.2 miles, Stages: 90-95-108
TV: FS1
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)
Weekend Schedule:
Saturday: 10:35 a.m. ET, Practice (FS2, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 11:20 a.m. ET, Qualifying (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 3 p.m. ET, Race (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
6 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Matt McCall
Partner: Castrol Edge
- The No. 6 will pay homage this weekend to the Castrol heritage brand with a classic GTX scheme for Darlington.
17 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Fifth Third Bank
- While the No. 17 is not officially a throwback scheme, the car will feature the No. 17 font that Hall of Famer Matt Kenseth ran during his years at Roush.
Pace Laps:
- The NASCAR schedule heads to the ‘Lady in Black’ this weekend as Darlington hosts the 13th points race of the season, and first of three-straight close to home.
- Jack Roush has 20 wins all-time at Darlington including five in the Cup Series.
Keselowski at Darlington
Starts: 18
Wins: 1 (2018)
Top-10s: 9
Poles: 3 (2015, 2020, 2021)
- Keselowski makes his 19th Cup start at Darlington on Sunday. He has nine top-10s and five top-five finishes in 18 starts with a 12.1 overall average finish.
- Keselowski won the fall race back in 2018, one of his five top fives overall at the track Too Tough to Tame. He’s coming off two-straight P7 finishes in the last two fall races, and finished 34th in this race last spring after a crash just over halfway through the race.
- Keselowski does have three poles at Darlington – 2015, 2020, 2021 – with a 11.1 average starting position and 11 starts inside the top-10.
- He also made seven Xfinity Series starts with one win (2018) and three top-10s.
Buescher at Darlington
Starts: 11
Wins: —
Top-10s: 2
Poles: —
- Buescher is set for his 12th Cup start from Darlington where he is coming off two top-10s in the last four starts. He ran ninth in both of the 2021 events and has a 18.2 average finish.
- Prior to 2021, Buescher’s top finish stood as 12th (2019 fall race). Last spring he finished 16th.
- He carries a 23.2 average starting position with a best starting spot of 11th which came in the 2021 spring race.
- Buescher also made four Xfinity starts at Darlington with a fifth-place run in 2015.
RFK Historically at Kansas
Cup Wins: 5 (Mark Martin, 1993; Jeff Burton, 1999, 1999; Greg Biffle, 2005, 2006)
- Darlington Two-Step: RFK has twice won consecutive NCS races at Darlington, including a season sweep in 1999 with former driver Jeff Burton. RFK also earned victories in consecutive seasons at the egg-shaped oval in 2005 and 2006 with Biffle.
- Tale of the Tape: In 256 all-time NASCAR starts at ‘The Lady in Black,’ Jack Roush’s Fords have 20 wins, 69 top-five and 119 top-10 finishes, along with 20 poles. Over the years RFK has led 4,500+ laps across the Cup, Xfinity and Truck series, with more than 89,000 miles logged at the 1.366-mile track. In NCS action alone, RFK has finished top-10 in 43 percent (72-of-170) of the races with 35 top-five results and five wins.
- Kickin’ it Old School: Legendary RFK drivers Mark Martin, Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle are responsible for the five Cup wins for Jack Roush at Darlington. Martin earned Roush’s first Cup win back in 1993 after leading 178 laps. Burton swept the 1999 events as the dominant car, and Biffle earned the two most recent victories in 2005 and 2006.
- Most All Time: It’s no secret that when Roush has dominated in the Xfinity Series at Darlington. In 79 starts, the organization has 15 wins, 33 top-five and 44 top-10s. Mark Martin is responsible for eight of the victories, second-most for him among any track, after winning five of the first seven races at the track for Roush from 1993-96. He also went on to win in 1999 and swept again in 2000. Jeff Burton got in on the fun with wins in 1997, 2001 and 2002, while Biffle earned a win in 2004. Most recently, Kenseth drove to victory lane in 2005 and 2009.
RFK Darlington Wins
1993-2 Martin Cup
1999-1 Burton Cup
1999-2 Burton Cup
2005 Biffle Cup
2006 Biffle Cup
1993-2 Martin NXS
1994-1 Martin NXS
1994-2 Martin NXS
1995-2 Martin NXS
1996-1 Martin NXS
1997-2 Burton NXS
1999-2 Martin NXS
2000-1 Martin NXS
2000-2 Martin NXS
2001-2 Burton NXS
2002-1 Burton NXS
2002-2 Burton NXS
2004-1 Biffle NXS
2005 Kenseth NXS
2009 Kenseth NXS
Last Time Out & Where They Stand
Kansas: Chris Buescher earned stage points in stage two and went on to finish 17th at Kansas, while Keselowski finished 19th Sunday afternoon.
Points Standings (6: 10th, 17: 13th): Keselowski enters the weekend in 10th in points, while Buescher sits 13th.
By the Numbers at Darlington
Race Win T5 T10 Pole Laps Led AvSt AvFn Miles
172 5 35 73 7 54789 2735 17.1 16.2 74841.7
79 15 33 44 12 10616 1856 9.9 12.9 14501.4
7 0 1 3 1 944 9 16.0 15.9 1289.50
258 20 69 120 20 66349 4600 14.7 15.2 90632.6
