07/18/2023

RFK Advance | Pocono

Pocono Event Info:
Track Info: Pocono Raceway, 2.5-mile triangle speedway
Date: Sunday, July 23
Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Format: 160 laps, 400 miles, Stages: 30-65-65
TV: USA
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)

Weekend Schedule:
Saturday: 2:35 p.m. ET (3 p.m. ET on USA), Practice (NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 3:20 p.m. ET, Qualifying (USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 2:30 p.m. ET, Race (USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Pace Laps:

• The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) schedule heads to ‘The Tricky Triangle’ where Jack Roush has four wins all-time, all of which came in the NCS.
• Just six races remain in the 2023 regular season including Pocono, with Richmond, Michigan, Indianapolis Road Course, Watkins Glen, and Daytona remaining.
• Pocono is the site of Chris Buescher’s first-ever win in the NCS, and is the second-best track statistically for Brad Keselowski.

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

• This weekend, RFK, Brad Keselowski, the Brad Keselowski Checkered Flag Foundation (BKCFF) and King’s Hawaiian will honor America’s heroes with a special scheme on the No. 6.
• Over 250 heroes will be featured on Keselowski’s car in Pocono as part of the Tribute to Veterans Program.

17 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Wyndham Rewards

Keselowski at Pocono
Starts: 25
Wins: 1 (2011)
Top-10s: 15
Poles: 1 (2016)

• Of all the tracks on the current schedule, Pocono stands as Keselowski’s second-best in terms of average finish, with a 10.7 average in 25 starts.
• Most recently he finished 14^th a season ago. Overall, he has 15 top-10 finishes, 11 of which were inside the top five, with one win at ‘The Tricky Triangle’ in 2011.
• Keselowski has led laps in 14 different Cup races in Pocono, including a race-best 95 in 2014 when he ran second. That marked one of four P2 finishes at the track, with the other runner-up results coming in 2015, 2016 and 2019.
• Keselowski has finished top-10 in five of the last seven Pocono races, and in 11 of the last 14.
• He has one pole all-time (2016) with an average starting position of 11.9 and 11 starts inside the top-10.
• Outside of Cup action, Keselowski made one start each in the Xfinity and Truck Series, winning the 2017 Xfinity race in the No. 22.

Buescher at Pocono
Starts: 13
Wins: 1 (2016)
Top-10s: 2
Poles: 1 (2021)

• Pocono marks the site of Buescher’s first-ever Cup win, which came in 2016 while driving at Front Row Motorsports. After weather played a factor with 133 laps completed, NASCAR red-flagged and ultimately called the race early, giving Buescher his first-career victory in NASCAR’s top series.
• Overall at Pocono, Buescher has two top-10s in 13 starts with an average result of 20.8. He finished 29^th a season ago.
• Buescher’s average qualifying effort stands at 19.6 with two career top-10 starting spots – including the pole in 2021 when NASCAR inverted the field after race one of a doubleheader, and last season when he qualified fifth.
• Buescher also made four ARCA starts at Pocono in 2011-12, recording one runner-up finish followed by a third-place run and two fifth-place finishes.

RFK Historically at Pocono
Cup Wins: 4 (Carl Edwards, 2005, 2008; Kurt Busch, 2005; Greg Biffle, 2010

• It’s Tricky, it’s Tricky (Tricky) Tricky (Tricky): RFK has run 220 Cup races at ‘The Tricky Triangle’ dating back to 1988. An RFK Ford has visited victory lane on four occasions in the Cup series, with the first coming in 2005 with Carl Edwards. Kurt Busch followed with a win in the July race of that same year, one of his three victories for Jack Roush in 2005. Three years later, Edwards found winners circle again in 2008, and Greg Biffle carded the organization’s most recent win at the 2.5-mile track back in 2010.
• Runner-Up: RFK has finished in the second position 13 times at Pocono with six different drivers. All in all, RFK has finished first or second 17 times at the triangular track.
• Tale of the Tape: Overall RFK has 73 top-10 and 45 top-five results at Pocono along with three poles and the four wins. Mark Martin earned back-to-back poles in 1990 and 1991, before capturing his third in 1996.

RFK Pocono Wins

2005-1   Edwards               Cup

2005-2   Busch                    Cup

2008-2   Edwards               Cup

2010-2   Biffle                     Cup

Last Time Out & Where They Stand
Loudon: Brad Keselowski fought his way to a fifth-place finish at Loudon on Sunday, earning stage two points and driving back inside the top five through three late restarts. Buescher overcame a mid-race mishap to finish 15^th, his 14^th top-15 of the season.

Points Standings (6: 11^th, 17: 12^th): Both RFK cars continue to solidify themselves in the top-12 with Keselowski and Buescher just 11 points apart.

By the Numbers at Pocono

Race      Win       T5           T10         Pole       Laps       Led        AvSt      AvFn     Miles

220         4              45           73           3              39086    1053       17.8        16.9        97715

6              0              0              0              0              448         0              21.3        20.8        1120

0              0              0              0              0              0              0              0              0              0             

266         4              45           73           3              39534    1053       17.9        16.9        98835