RFK Advance | COTA

COTA Event Info:
Track Info: Circuit of the Americas, 3.426-mile road course
Date: Sunday, March 26
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Austin, Texas
Format: 68 laps, 231.88 miles, Stages: 15-15-38
TV: FOX
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Weekend Schedule:
Friday: 2:05 p.m. ET, Practice (No TV)
Saturday: 11:30 a.m. ET, Qualifying (FS1, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 3:30 p.m. ET, Race (FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

6 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Matt McCall
Partner: Wyndham Rewards

17 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Fifth Third Bank

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Pace Laps:

• The Cup Series heads to the first of six road courses races this season as COTA, the 20-turn, nearly 3.5-mile circuit, hosts the NCS for the third time.
• The weekend schedule again features a rare, full practice session as a 50-minute practice is slated for Friday. NASCAR also implemented new rule changes at road courses for 2023 with the following going into effect for the first time this weekend: stage break cautions have been eliminated with stage points still being awarded to drivers at the predetermined stage end lap. The field will not be slowed by the green-checkered flag indicating a stage break.
• It’s a trip home for Chris Buescher as his hometown of Prosper, Texas, sits 230 miles from the Austin area. Brad Keselowski enters the weekend in search of his first-ever win on a road course.
• Jack Roush has 15 road course wins including five in the Cup Series.
• Buescher has finished inside the top-10 in the last five road course events and last season had an average finish of ninth at those tracks.

Keselowski at COTA
Starts: 2
Wins: —
Top-10s: —
Poles: —

• Keselowski makes his third start at COTA this weekend and 38^th Cup start on a road course. He finished 14^th a season ago in Texas, and ran 19^th in the series’ first race on the 3+ mile circuit.
• In road course action in his Cup career, Keselowski has 11 top-10s and seven finishes inside the top five with a 15.9 average finish. He has multiple second-place finishes, all at Watkins Glen, and last year had a best road course run of 10^th at Sonoma.
• Keselowski has a 15.4 average starting position on road courses.

Buescher at COTA
Starts: 2
Wins: —
Top-10s: —
Poles: —

• Buescher makes his third start at COTA on Sunday and 27^th Cup start on a road course. He finished 13^th in the first-ever race there in 2021 that was shortened by rain, and ran 21^st last season in his home state of Texas.
• Overall in road course racing in his Cup career, Buescher has seven top-10s, three top fives and an average finish of 15.1.
• Buescher has five-straight top-10 finishes on road courses dating back to last season. He finished sixth at the ROVAL last fall, ninth at Watkins Glen, 10^th at the Indy Road Course, sixth at Road America and second at Sonoma.
• Buescher has an average starting position of 18.1 on road courses and last season started inside the top-10 in three of the six road course races.

RFK Historically on Road Courses
Cup Wins: 5 (Mark Martin, 1993-94-95, Watkins Glen; Mark Martin, 1997, Sonoma; Carl Edwards, 2014, Sonoma)

• RFK on the Road: As an organization, RFK has made 244 starts on road courses in the Cup Series with five wins, 85 top-10s and 40 finishes inside the top five with a 17.5 average finish.
• Martin Goes Three-Straight in N.Y.: NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin is responsible for four of Jack Roush’s road course wins all-time, including three-straight at Watkins Glen from 1993-95. Martin dominated the three years, leading a combined 183 laps, and won all three from the pole. He also won once in Sonoma, in 1997, after also starting from the point to lead 69 of the 74 laps.
• Edwards Victorious Four Times, at Four Different Road Courses: Carl Edwards also visited victory lane for Jack Roush at Sonoma, driving to the win in 2014 after starting fourth. In Xfinity action, Edwards was victorious at WGI in 2012, Road America in 2010, and Montreal in 2009. In the 2012 event in New York, current crew chief Scott Graves was atop the box for one of his two Xfinity wins all-time on road courses.
• Buescher, Graves Former Road Course Winners: In Buescher’s first full-time Xfinity season in 2014, he and Graves found victory lane at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August, which also fell on August 16. Buescher led 25 laps that day in the No. 60 entry for Roush.

RFK Road Course Wins

1993-1   Martin  WGI-Cup

1994-1   Martin  WGI-Cup

1995-1   Martin  WGI-Cup

1997-1   Martin  Son-Cup

2014-1   Edwards Son-Cup

2012-1   Edwards WGI-NXS

2010-1   Edwards RA-NXS

2009-1   Edwards Mon-NXS

2014-1   Buescher Mid-O NXS

1998-1   Ruttman WGI-Truck

2000-1   Biffle     WGI-Truck

1997-1   Ruttman Top-Truck

1999-1   Bliss       Top-Truck

1997-1   Ruttman Son-Truck

1999-1   Biffle     Port-Truck