Information By: BRANDON LEE / RFK RACING – CONCORD, NC
Phoenix II Event Info:
Date: Sunday, Nov. 10
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Avondale, Arizona
Format: 312 Laps, 312 Miles, Stages: 60-125-127
TV: NBC
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)
Weekend Schedule:
Friday: 6:05 p.m. ET, Practice (USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 5:05 p.m. ET, Qualifying (USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 3 p.m. ET, Race (NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Pace Laps:
Phoenix Raceway hosts the 2024 NASCAR season finale this weekend where the 2024 Champion will be decided.
Phoenix is the site of seven of Jack Roush’s Cup wins all-time, and 17 wins total in NASCAR.
Chris Buescher is coming off back-to-back top five results at the 1-mile track, and has the seventh-best average finish of any driver there since 2021.
6 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Matt McCall
Partner: BuildSubmarines.com
17 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Fastenal
Keselowski at Phoenix
Starts: 30
Wins: —
Top-10s: 14
Poles: 2 (2014, 2021)
Keselowski makes his 31st Cup start at Phoenix on Sunday. He has 14 top-10s with an average finish of 13.6. Most recently he ran fourth this spring after starting 18th, and finished 15th in the finale a season ago.
He’s led 284 laps in 15 different Phoenix races and finished P9 in the second stage earlier this spring before driving into the top five.
Keselowski has two poles (2014, 2021) with an average starting position of 13.9.
He is a two-time Xfinity Series winner in Phoenix including winning the 2018 race in the No. 22 entry, and in 2014 for Team Penske. Overall he has 21 NXS starts with 5 top-10s. He also made two Truck Series starts in 2005 and 2008 with a best finish of sixth in his own No. 19 truck for BKR.
Buescher at Phoenix
Starts: 17
Wins: —
Top-10s: 3
Poles: —
Buescher makes his 18th Cup start in Phoenix on Sunday. He’s fresh off a runner-up result there this spring, his best career result, and has a 3.5 average finish in the last two Phoenix races.
He led 18 laps and finished fifth in the season finale a season ago, and earlier this season ran P2 after starting 14th.
Buescher has an average starting position of 23.5 with the P9 start last fall as his best.
Buescher also made four Xfinity Series starts in Arizona for Jack Roush with a best finish of 12th (2014).
RFK Historically at Phoenix
Cup Wins: 7 (Mark Martin, 1993; Jeff Burton, 2000, 2003; Matt Kenseth, 2002; Kurt Busch, 2005; Carl Edwards, 2010, 2013)
- Hooked on Phoenix: RFK has 307 combined starts at Phoenix, totaling 17 wins, 78 top-five and 138 top-10 finishes. RFK Fords have nine poles and have led 4,050 laps at the 1-mile track.
- Winning in the Desert: RFK has won at Phoenix in all three of NASCAR’s major divisions, with the organization’s first win coming in the fall of 1993 with NASCAR Hall of Famer and former driver Mark Martin in the NCS. RFK won the second-ever NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix in 2000 and former driver Greg Biffle claimed the organization’s 100th overall NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Phoenix in 2009.
- Former driver Carl Edwards also won at the track that fall to give RFK the season sweep. All in all, six drivers have won NASCAR races for RFK at Phoenix (Martin, Biffle, Edwards, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and Joe Ruttman). In addition, Edwards swept Phoenix in the fall of 2010, winning both the NXS and NCS events.
- Xfinity Success: Phoenix was one of the strongest tracks for RFK’s Xfinity program. In 93 starts, the organization won eight times, earned 27 top-fives, 53 top-10s and has led 1,406 laps. RFK most recently went to victory lane with Edwards in Nov. 2010. Its eight wins rank most of any track on the circuit behind only Charlotte (12), Darlington (15), Richmond (9) and Rockingham (10).
- Tale of the Tape: RFK has started 178 NCS races at Phoenix, recording a total of seven victories, 38 top-five finishes, 64 top-10 finishes, four poles and has led 2,310 laps. Edwards earned RFK’s most recent victory at Phoenix in the March 2013 event.
RFK Phoenix Wins
- 1993 Martin Cup
- 1997-2 Ruttman Truck
- 2000 Burton Cup
- 2000 Burton NXS
- 2001 Biffle Truck
- 2001 Burton Cup
- 2001 Biffle NXS
- 2002 Kenseth Cup
- 2005-1 Busch Cup
- 2005-2 Edwards NXS
- 2006-2 Kenseth NXS
- 2008-2 Edwards NXS
- 2009-1 Biffle NXS
- 2009-2 Edwards NXS
- 2010-2 Edwards Cup
- 2010-2 Edwards NXS
- 2013-1 Edwards Cup
Last Time Out
Martinsville II: Keselowski finished ninth after leading 170 laps, the most of any driver. Buescher finished 30th.