James Buescher
No. 30 Central Wire Chevrolet
Atlanta Motor Speedway – NRA American Warrior 300 – September 1, 2012
James Buescher and the No. 30 Central Wire team overcame adversity over and over again throughout 300-mile race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, battling through handling issues and a bad set of tires, only to end the night with a wrecked racecar. The Turner Motorsports team looked like they would salvage a top-15 finish when another competitor made contact with the Chevy Impala with only seven laps remaining, resulting in a major wreck and a 23rd-place finish in the NRA American Warrior 300.
With only one practice session to perfect the handling of the No. 30 team’s brand-new chassis, Buescher qualified 23rd for the 195-lap event in Hampton, Georgia. Determined to surmount the undesirable starting spot, Buescher picked up six spots in the first green-flag lap of the race and appeared poised to make his way to the front of the pack. Unfortunately, when the first yellow flag of the night waved on lap four, Buescher radioed crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. to inform him that the Central Wire Chevy was tight middle to exit and that he couldn’t run it as deep as he wanted into the corners. Too early to pit, Hillman Jr. assured his driver that they would improve the handling of the Impala later in the race, and when the yellow waved for the second time just four laps after going green, Buescher reported in to his team that his truck was now “usable” but still tight.
Restarting 17th on lap 16, Buescher searched for grip and speed, methodically relaying his car’s behavior to his crew. By lap 18, Buescher slipped to 18th, and with the leader setting a blistering pace over a long green-flag run, the young Texan went a lap down by lap 44. Green-flag pit stops were required soon after, and Hillman Jr. called the Central Wire Chevy to the pits on lap 52. Now running free in and tight in the center, the No. 30 was serviced with four tires, fuel, a spring rubber and an air pressure adjustment before returning to the racing surface in 19th. As green-flag stops were completed, Buescher took over the 16th spot before the third yellow of the evening was shown on lap 66. Buescher pitted to top-off on fuel and returned to the track in 12th.
Racing resumed on lap 73, and despite being a lap down, Buescher worked his way up as far as ninth before a debris caution 10 laps later. Still searching for grip, Buescher brought the Central Wire Impala to pit road where the Turner Motorsports crew provided him with four tires, fuel and another air pressure adjustment. When green-flag action restarted on lap 87, Buescher was scored in the 15th spot.
Unfortunately, it only grew worse for the No. 30 team as Buescher’s speeds were markedly slower, causing him to slip to 18th after they determined that they must have received a bad set of tires. With such a major blow to the handling, Buescher was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop when the yellow flag waved on lap 106. Once again, Buescher was provided with four fresh tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment before returning to the track in 18th for the lap 112 green flag.
Buescher finally radioed the No. 30 team with good news shortly after the restart, stating that the handling was much better than the previous run. With only a few other cars on the same lap as him, Buescher could only progress to 15th over the course of the next 70 laps, but the No. 30’s night went from bad to worse following the restart from a lap 184 debris caution with 11 laps remaining. With the racing heating up and growing intense in the closing laps, Buescher tried to leave room for a competitor racing side-by-side with him, but the other car nosed into the rear of the Central Wire Chevy, sending the 22-year-old into the outside wall before sliding down the track. Buescher’s Impala was hit a second time by a passing competitor before it came to rest on the inside retaining wall. Unable to re-fire the car due to excessive damage, Buescher was forced to retire from the event, resulting in a 23rd-place finish when the checkered flag waved.
James Buescher: “We fought hard to overcome a lot tonight and I thought that we could at least come away with a top-10 or top-15, but instead we’re walking away with a wrecked racecar. This was a disappointing night for our team, especially with a great new sponsor on board for the first time this weekend. I can’t thank Central Wire enough for their support of Turner Motorsports. After a night like this, we just have to move on to the next weekend. I am running a few more Nationwide races,, so I’m looking forward to those and hope we can score another win in the No. 30 before the year is out.”
The NASCAR Nationwide Series next heads to Richmond International Raceway for the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 under the lights at 7:00 PM ET.
Final Practice
Position: 16th
Laps: 36
Fastest Lap: 31.899
Qualifying
Position: 23rd
Fastest Lap: 32.527
Race
Position: 23rd
Laps Completed/Total Laps: 185/195
