The RFK Fords had plenty of speed, but were sparce on luck during Sunday’s 109-lap Roval Cup event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Chris Buescher ultimately led the way with a 17th-place finish; forced to battle back from getting spun out just over halfway through the race after having worked his way up to 12th.
Brad Keselowski’s Castrol/TravelCenters Ford was one of the fastest in the field. The No. 6 driver qualified eighth and was running in the top five before getting spun out while running fourth on lap 38. Keselowski would work his way back through the field, only to get spun out once again by the same car with only a handful of laps remaining; relegated to the 23rd-place finish.
“We had a really fast car,” said Keselowski after the race. “I hate that we didn’t get the finish that we deserved, but the effort was there and I’m proud of our team for bringing such a fast car to this track.”
6 Recap
Keselowski qualified eighth on Saturday and was running there when the team pitted for the first time on lap 19. He would ultimately finish the first stage ninth and restarted inside the top five when the field took the green for stage two. Keselowski had moved his Ford to fourth position with sites on third when the No. 77 made contact from behind and send him spinning around. By the time he collected his car, he was in 34th position.
Patiently and methodically the NASCAR champion maneuvered his No. 6 Ford back through the field and was running in 12th position with 20 laps to go, before getting spun out on the backstretch chicane with a handful of laps remaining. He was able to collect his car and battle back to 23rd, picking up positions up until the final lap of the race.
17 Recap
Buescher and the No. 17 Fifth Third Team did not fare as well in Saturday’s qualifying and were forced to start the race from 28th position. However, the Prosper, Texas native wasted little time moving through the field. He finished stage one in the 21st position and restarted P16 for stage two.
He moved all the way to 12th, before finishing stage two P20 after pitting late. He restarted stage three P14 and had moved to 13th, before getting spun on lap 63 and falling all the way back to 32nd. He eventually was able to rebound for the 17th-place finish.
Up Next
The Cup Series returns to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next weekend, with race coverage set for 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, and radio coverage on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
*The No. 48 was later disqualified in post race inspection, bumping Keselowski up to 23rd.
RFK Racing PR