Buescher Completes a NCWTS Kentucky Speedway Two-Race Sweep with a 201-Mile Victory

[media-credit name=”Credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”231″][/media-credit]Turner Motorsports driver becomes the first to take back-to-back NCWTS Kentucky Speedway wins

SPARTA, Ky. – Turner Motorsports driver James Buescher became the first driver to earn back-to-back Kentucky Speedway NASCAR Camping World (NCWTS) victories by leading 64 of 134 Kentucky 201 laps and guiding his No. 31 truck beneath the checkered flag 1.292 seconds ahead of Parker Kligerman in the No. 7 Red Horse Racing truck tonight.

Ty Dillon took third in the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 truck, his teammate Joey Coulter crossed the finish line third in the No. 22 machine and Brian Scott rounded out the race top five in the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports ride.

Buescher entered the pits fifth on Lap 81 during the sixth caution of the race to take on two tires and fuel. Coulter brought his leading truck in for service during the same cycle. His crew packed the fuel cell full and took on four tires.

The No. 31 truck emerged from the stop, took over the race lead under caution on Lap 83 and denied late threats from the pole winner Coulter and Kligerman through the closing 50 circuits following the Lap 85 restart.

“We’ve had some tough breaks this year, so to be able to win races when you have the opportunity is really cool. Robbie Fast was my spotter tonight, Jeff Dickerson is up in New Hampshire. He (Fast) was spotting for me in Texas, and at the first Iowa race. We had those two races robbed from us, so it was cool to finally win with him.

“(Crew Chief) Michael Shelton made an awesome call to only take two tires at the end and get that track position. Clean air was really important to us tonight, and once we got the truck out front it was on kill,” Buescher said.

He also becomes the first driver to earn two NCWTS Kentucky victories in the same season and the second to earn two career series victories at the track. Ron Hornaday Jr., leads the series in Kentucky Speedway victories with three.

He charted his fourth victory along with his ninth top-five and 11th top-10 finish of the season. He advanced from third to second in the series standing and will take the Sept. 29 green flag at Las Vegas Motor Speedway trailing championship leader Ty Dillon by four points.

Kligerman raced in the 15th position on Lap 8 and mounted a resilient charge to take second by Lap 130. He closed out the 16th event of the season with his sixth top-five and 11th top-10 finish.

He will enter the Las Vegas race fourth in the championship standings and 30 points behind Dillon.

“We had an awesome number seven Red Horse Racing truck, then, we spun out racing for third. You can’t do that and win one of these races.

“We came back and drove around them all. That was insane. This is a championship caliber team. It’s our championship for the taking. We’re just going to go win and lead the most laps,” Kligerman said.

Dillon charted his second third-place NCWTS Kentucky Speedway finish of the season along with his fifth top-five and 14th top-10 showing of the season. He surrendered four championship points to second place tonight, but was pleased with his team’s effort.

“Three top threes in a row, what more could you ask for? James ran a good race and our Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevy was great. We had a good truck tonight. We were really fast on a couple laps, but on long runs, we would just get too tight. We’re on a roll right now. The only way we’ll get any better is to win, and that will come,” Dillon said.

Racing continues tomorrow at 4 p.m., with the NASCAR Nationwide Series Kentucky 300. Tickets and infield Fan Zone passes will be on sale at speedway ticket booths 10, 15 and 20 at 9:30 a.m. Gates open at 10:30 a.m., and Kentucky 300 qualifying commences at 12:35 p.m.