Chris Buescher will have a familiar look on his No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang in this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway as the team and sponsor Fifth Third Bank have come together to honor 2003 NASCAR Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth with a special throwback paint scheme.
The scheme will also feature the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2023 emblem as well as Matt Kenseth’s signature on the sides of the car.
For the team’s co-owner Jack Roush, Kenseth is a true legend that scored the first NASCAR Cup Series championship for the then Roush Racing.
“Matt is really one of the guys that helped to put us on the map,” said Hall of Fame team owner Jack Roush. “Mark (Martin) brought to my attention early on and was adamant that we needed to sign Matt and put him in a car.
“He ended up being one of the most talented and productive drivers in the sport’s history and we are very proud to see him be honored and inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.”
Kenseth’s NASCAR Hall of Fame resume speaks for itself. The Wisconsin native amassed a total of 39 wins in the NASCAR Cup Series over a 697-race career. Kenseth also recorded 29 NASCAR Xfinity Series wins.
Kenseth drove full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series from his rookie season until the end of the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season. After a stint with Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of his full-time career, Kenseth returned to RFK Racing to drive 15 races during the 2018 season and he ran 32 races in 2020 in place of Kyle Larson, who had been suspended and fired from the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team.
As far as the modern day driver of the No. 17, Buescher has enjoyed the best season of his seven-year NASCAR Cup Series career. Buescher scored his second-career win earlier this year at the night race at Bristol Motor Speedway and he has recorded career-highs in top-five finishes (three), top-10 finishes (10) and laps led (194).
