[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”238″]
[/media-credit]Halfway through Saturday’s Kroger 200 at Martinsville the championship hopes of James Buescher were slowly slipping away. Buescher was dropping through the field and soon a lap down as his No. 31 Great Clips Chevrolet refused to grip the racetrack.
But as the last few weeks have shown, no matter the series or circumstance, it is never over. For Buescher and his Turner Motorsports team that attitude took them from down and out, to in control of the championship. Recovering from a lap down to finish sixth. Something Buescher said he had all the faith in the world was going to happen.
“We stayed calmed and never gave up, this team never gives up and I think we showed that earlier this year at Chicago when we were two laps down and came back to win,” said Buescher after the race on Saturday.
“[Today] we were a lap down and came back and took over the point lead. Pretty happy with [today] and looking forward to Texas a lot. I keep saying I would like to win one or two more races before the end of the year and we have three more tries to do it. Texas is a place that would mean a lot to me to win a race, not only to try to extend the point lead but it’s my home track and I haven’t won there yet. I’m looking forward to these last three races and we need to do everything we can to keep this points lead and hopefully be that champion at the end of the race in Homestead.”
Saturday was a championship performance. Starting 10th on the grid, Buescher was hoping to easily erase his one point deficit to point leader Ty Dillon. Having finished third in the spring race, expectations were high that results would be duplicated. But no sooner had the green flag been displayed than Buescher told his team that his truck was just too loose.
As the race started to hit a long green flag run, Buescher started to slide backwards. He fell to 22nd and one lap down while his competition ran up front. With every pit stop though, the team continued to make adjustments and Buescher was eventually rewarded with the lucky dog.
School was then in session. Buescher became one of the best trucks one the track, picking up spots and climbing back into the top 10. Things became even brighter for him on lap 151 as Dillon blew a right front tire. He would finish 28th after losing multiple laps.
A sixth place finish capped off the long day for Buescher. With it he took the point lead by 21 over Dillon. There are three races remaining in the season, the next being as he mentioned his home track, Texas Motor Speedway. And Buescher loves being the one in control of the race for the championship as they series heads there.
Plus, the Plano, Texas native leads the series in victories this year, four and counting. In looking for their fifth win, the team isn’t holding back, bringing the same truck that went to Victory Lane in each of those four races. As well as the same attitude, something that Buescher still had when speaking a few days after Martinsville.
“It would definitely mean a lot to me to be able to win in front of my hometown crowd. It’s a racetrack that I’ve been going to since it opened, and it means a lot to me,” said Buescher on Tuesday about the upcoming Texas weekend.
“It’s where I got started in racing. I’ve spent a lot of time there and all my family and friends will be there, also. I’m looking forward to this weekend. I thought we had a shot to win the summer race there earlier this year and just got taken out with 30 laps to go leading the race.
“It’s a place that we always have a lot of speed at, and our team tends to do pretty well at the mile-and-a-half’s, and I’d say that’s why were have four wins already on mile-and-a-half’s this year.
“That definitely adds to the confidence level going into the weekend and I’m looking forward to it.”
And of course, the big picture. Buescher hopes to deliver the championship he missed out on last year for not only his team owner but his father-in-law. Steve Turner is both of those and has plans to move Buescher into the Nationwide Series full-time in 2013 should they end the CWTS season on a high note.
Not to mention, Buescher doesn’t want to let his young cousin have a one up on him. Chris Buescher won the ARCA Series championship a few weeks ago, now James looks to keep it all in the family. The next three weeks will be an exciting time for Buescher and Turner Motorsports.
“It would definitely be pretty cool to have two Bueschers with two championships in the same year. Chris and I started racing at the same time, and we were together the first couple of years and drove for the same team and then just kind of went down separate paths in our racing careers and have both, I think, done pretty well and congratulations to him on his championship,” said Buescher.
“Hopefully I can pull this one off and have a second title in the 2012 season for a Buescher. I was joking with somebody a few weeks ago that I would be pretty ironic that last year the Dillons [Ty and Austin] won the ARCA and Truck championship in the same year, and it would be pretty cool to back that up with the Bueschers taking the ARCA and Truck Series titles in the same year.
“I think that would be pretty cool.”
