Information By: BRANDON LEE / RFK RACING – CONCORD, NC
Kansas I Event Info:
Date: Sunday, May 5
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Kansas City, Kansas
Format: 267 Laps, 400.5 miles, Stages: 80-85-102
TV: FS1
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)
Weekend Schedule:
- Saturday: 5:05 p.m. ET, Practice (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
- Saturday: 5:50 p.m. ET, Qualifying (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
- Sunday: 3 p.m. ET, Race (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Pace Laps:
- Kansas hosts its first of two race dates in 2024 as the NASCAR Cup Series embarks on its 12th points race of the season. Kansas marks just the third 1.5-mile race of the season.
- RFK is coming off a P2 finish in the last 1.5-mile track (Texas – Brad Keselowski), and the No. 6 earned a ninth-place finish in the last trip to Kansas. Chris Buescher has three-straight qualifying efforts of 14th or better at Kansas.
- Jack Roush has four wins in the Cup Series at Kansas and nine overall, the most recent in 2012.
6 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Matt McCall
Partner: Consumer Cellular
17 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Castrol Edge
Keselowski at Kansas
- Starts: 28
- Wins: 2 (2011, 2019)
- Top-10s: 14
- Poles: 2 (2015, 2021)
Keselowski makes his 29th start at Kansas this weekend, a track where he carries a 12.3 average finish. He’s coming off a ninth-place run last fall, his 14th top-10 at the 1.5-mile track. He finished 19th in the 2023 spring race.
Keselowski has an average starting position of 11.3 with 17 starts inside the top-10. He most recently qualified 20th last spring and 12th in the fall, and has two career poles (2015, 2021) in Kansas.
He also made a combined 10 starts in the Xfinity and Truck Series with one win and five combined top-10s.
Buescher at Kansas
- Starts: 16
- Wins: —
- Top-10s: 3
- Poles: —
Buescher makes his 17th start at Kansas this weekend. He has three top-10s at the 1.5-mile track with a best finish of sixth (2017).
He’s coming off a 27th-place finish in the 2023 fall race where he lost a tire with less than 10 laps remaining. He finished 17th in the spring, but qualified top-15 in both races.
Dating back to the 2022 fall event, Buescher has qualified 14th or better in all three races, including a career-best 10th in that 2022 fall race. His average starting position stands at 19.6.
Buescher made three Xfinity starts at Kansas from 2013-15 with a best finish of sixth (2015).
RFK Historically at Kansas
Cup Wins: 4 (Mark Martin, 2005; Greg Biffle, 2007, 2010; Matt Kenseth, 2012)
Follow the Yellow Brick Road: Overall, RFK has started 183 races across the three national series, earning nine wins, 41 top-five finishes, 77 top-10 finishes and has an overall average finish of 15th.
Winning at Kansas: RFK swept both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NCS races at Kansas in the fall of 2012 with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Matt Kenseth. Stenhouse became the sixth driver to win at the track for the organization via his Xfinity victory. NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin earned RFK’s first NCS win at Kansas in 2005 and former driver Greg Biffle bested the 1.5-mile track in 2007 and 2010. RFK’s first overall win at Kansas came in 2002 via Jeff Burton in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Three drivers (Jon Wood in 2003, Carl Edwards in 2004 and Erik Darnell in 2007) have won in the NCWTS at Kansas for RFK.
Tale of the Tape: RFK has started 114 NCS races at Kansas, recording four victories, 20 top-five finishes, 37 top-10 finishes, an average finish of 16.7 and has led 993 laps. Kenseth earned the most recent victory at Kansas in the fall of 2012.
RFK Kansas Wins
2002 Burton NXS
2003 Wood Truck
2004 Edwards Truck
2005 Martin Cup
2007 Biffle Cup
2007 Darnell Truck
2010 Biffle Cup
2012-2 Kenseth Cup
2012 Stenhouse NXS
Last Time Out & Where They Stand
Dover: Buescher led the RFK charge with a 17th-place result in Dover last weekend. Keselowski spun early on and later suffered a blown tire to finish 30th.
Points Standings (17: 14th, 6: 16th): Buescher advanced two positions to P14, while Keselowski sits 16th. Just 17 points separate 11th-17th.