10/26/2023

RFK Advance | Martinsville II

Martinsville II Event Info:
Track Info: Martinsville Speedway, 0.5-mile short track
Date: Sunday, Oct. 29
Time: 2 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Martinsville, Virginia
Format: 500 laps, 263 miles, Stages: 130-130-240
TV: NBC
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Weekend Schedule:
Saturday: 12:35 p.m. ET, Practice (USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 1:20 p.m. ET, Qualifying (USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 2 p.m. ET, Race (NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

6 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Matt McCall
Partner: King’s Hawaiian

17 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: NEXLETOL (bempedoic acid and ezetimibe)

Pace Laps:

• The penultimate race of the 2023 season takes place at the famed Paperclip this weekend, as Martinsville hosts its second race of the campaign.
• Chris Buescher enters the weekend in a must-win situation, sitting eighth in the playoff standings, with two spots still up for grabs as this weekend’s race locks in the Championship 4 that will race for the title next week in Phoenix.
• In short track races in 2023, RFK has one win (Buescher – Richmond II) two top fives and three top-10s.

Keselowski at Martinsville
Starts: 27
Wins: 2
Top-10s: 17
Poles: 1 (2020)

• Keselowski, a two-time winner at Martinsville, is set for his 28^th Cup start at ‘The Paperclip.’
• Martinsville stands as one of Keselowski’s best tracks statistically with an average finish of 12.5. He’s coming off a 24^th-place finish this spring, and crossed the line fourth last fall before later being disqualified.
• He has finished top-10 in 63 percent of his starts there. Of the 17 top-10s, 12 have been inside the top five. He earned his first Grandfather clock back in 2017 and won the same race two years later in the spring.
• Keselowski has finished fifth or better in 11 of his last 17 races at the track with a pair of runner-up results and three finishes of third.
• He carries an average starting position of 11.4 into the weekend with 15 starts inside the top-10 and one pole (2010). Last season he qualified ninth in the spring and sixth in the fall.
• Keselowski also made four Truck Series starts from 2004-07.

Buescher at Martinsville
Starts: 16
Wins: —
Top-10s: 1
Poles: —

• Buescher is set for his 17^th Cup start at Martinsville this weekend where he has one top-10 (P9), which came in the 2021 fall race.
• He’s coming off a 14^th-place finish this spring, and finishes of 24^th and 15^th last season.
• He has four-straight top-15s in the spring event dating back to 2020 with a P13 result that spring, followed by another 13^th-place finish in 2021, last season’s P15, and this season’s 14^th-place result.
• Buescher has an average starting position of 21.7 at Martinsville and is coming off his two best qualifying efforts of his career. After qualifying fourth in the 2022 spring race, Buescher qualified 10^th this spring.

RFK Historically at Martinsville
Cup Wins: 4 (Mark Martin, 1992, 2000; Jeff Burton, 1997; Kurt Busch, 2002)

• For Whom the Bell Tolls: RFK has earned four Grandfather Clocks at Martinsville with former drivers Mark Martin (two), Jeff Burton and Kurt Busch. RFK most recently went to victory lane with Busch in Oct. 2002.
• Rock Around the Clock: RFK had its overall most-successful outing at Martinsville in the spring of 2002 when it placed all four of its cars inside the top 10 with drivers Martin, Burton, Busch and Matt Kenseth.
• Closing Time: RFK earned a one-two finish in the April 9, 2000 event at Martinsville with former drivers Martin and Burton. Martin paced the field for 64 laps en route to the victory.
• Short-Track Prowess: RFK has started a total of 702 NCS races on short tracks, recording a total of 24 wins, 126 top-five finishes, 251 top-10 finishes and 8,061 laps led.
• Tale of the Tape: RFK has started 226 NCS races at Martinsville, recording four victories, 26 top-five finishes, 69 top-10 finishes, an average finish of 17.8 and has led 1,385 laps. RFK also boasts two NASCAR Truck Series wins in 46 starts at Martinsville (fall of ’03 and ’05).

RFK Martinsville Wins

1992-1   Martin  Cup
1997-2   Burton  Cup

2000-1   Martin  Cup
2002-2   Busch    Cup

2003-2   Wood         Truck
2005-2   Craven       Truck

Last Time Out & Where They Stand
Homestead: Buescher finished 21^st Sunday at Homestead-Miami, while Keselowski led laps four different times, earned stage points in each of the first two stages, before being collected in a late-race incident to finish 28^th.

Points Standings (17: 8^th, 6: 9^th): Buescher is in a must-win situation entering the final race in the Round of 8 this weekend, while Keselowski is ninth.

By the Numbers at Martinsville

Race      Win       T5           T10         Pole       Laps       Led        AvSt      AvFn     Miles

226         4              26           69           4              108422  1385       20.2        17.8        54211

3              0              0              1              0              750         0              28.0        19.3        394.5

46           2              14           24           3              10256    270         12.4        12.3        5394.6

275         6              40           94           7              119428  1655       20.2        16.5        60000.1