LAS VEGAS (Feb. 23, 2020) – Making his second start behind the wheel of Roush Fenway’s No. 17, Chris Buescher drove his Fastenal Ford Mustang to a 14th-place finish in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Buescher lined up 15th on a late restart with two laps to go in the 267-lap event and was able to pick up one position during a frenzied run to the finish that saw the race end with a multi-car accident just after taking the white flag.

“We had a pretty good day,” said Buescher. “The cautions didn’t really fall our way late in the race. Several cars that we ran ahead of most of the race were able to finish ahead of us on track position there at the end and we were not able to use our tires like we would have liked. We definitely learned some things today and we’re looking forward to get back on track next week at Fontana.”

Buescher started the race 23rd – based on last year’s owner points – after Saturday’s qualifying session was rained out. He quickly moved through the field and was running 18th when the competition caution came out on lap 25. He was scored in 16th at the end of stage one and 19th after stage two. He continued to run between 15th and 20th during the race, before moving inside the top 15 during the third and final stage of the race.
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Buescher and the No. 17 Fastenal team return to action next week at Auto Club Speedway (Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90).

ADVANCE NOTES
Buescher in the Duels

• After qualifying 19th on speed in this past Sunday’s Daytona 500 qualifying, Chris Buescher will line up 10th in Duel 1 Thursday night. It will mark Buescher’s fifth Daytona 500 qualifying race all-time with a best finish of ninth last season.
• The 2015 Xfinity Champion drove to a ninth-place result in his first-ever Duel in 2016 and also finished 10th in the 2018 event.

Buescher at Daytona International Speedway

• Buescher makes his ninth NCS start at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, and fifth Daytona 500 start.
• Overall at DIS, he has three top-10s and two top-fives with an average finish of 23.5.
• 2018 marked his best season at DIS when he finished fifth in the season opener, and followed that with another fifth-place result in the summer event.
• Buescher had better luck in his three Xfinity Series starts at Daytona, finishing runner-up in the 2015 kick-off race, and a pair of 12th-place results in the 2014 and 2015 summer races.

Luke Lambert at Daytona International Speedway

• Luke Lambert makes his Roush Fenway Racing debut with Buescher on Sunday, in what will be his eighth Daytona 500 atop the pit box.
• Overall at DIS Lambert has four top-10s – all with Ryan Newman – including three eighth-place finishes (2015 summer, both 2018 events) and a career-best fifth-place result in the 2017 summer race. Lambert also finished 11th with Newman in the 2016 opener.
• Lambert also called two Xfinity Series events at Daytona with Elliott Sadler in 2012, finishing third and sixth, respectively.

QUOTE WORTHY

Buescher on the Daytona 500:
“I’m super excited to be back in the fold at Roush Fenway where we won an Xfinity title a few years back. There are still many familiar faces in the shop and on the team, which makes the transition pretty seamless. We were pleased with our Fastenal Ford last weekend in practice and qualifying, and our goal is to keep it clean Thursday night and see what we can do come Sunday for the Daytona 500.”

​On the Car

Fastenal celebrates its 10th season with Roush Fenway Racing in 2020. They spent three years on the No. 99 before jumping to the No. 17 Cup Series entry, and were the primary partner on the No. 60 Xfinity team that captured the owner’s championship in 2011.

About Fastenal

Fastenal [Nasdaq: FAST] is North America’s largest fastener distributor and a ‘one-stop’ source for hundreds of thousands of OEM, MRO and Construction products. With more than 2,600 stores worldwide, the company supports B2B customers with tailored local inventory and dedicated personnel, who visit regularly, quickly respond to emergency needs, and provide efficient inventory management solutions. Fastenal’s service-oriented business network includes the world’s largest industrial vending program, 14 regional distribution centers, 8 custom manufacturing facilities, thousands of delivery vehicles, and industry-leading sourcing, quality and engineering resources.