[media-credit name=”Chris Graythen/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”225″]
[/media-credit]James Buescher
No. 31 Great Clips Chevrolet
Homestead-Miami Speedway – Ford EcoBoost 200 – November 16, 2012
James Buescher has claimed his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) championship. After a tight battle down to the very last race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Buescher narrowly edged out his closest competitors to be crowned the 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion.
Buescher, who grew up in Plano, Texas, just 40 miles northeast of the Texas Motor Speedway, first got his start in racing when he was just 12 years old. Buescher proved that he was a championship- caliber driver right from the start of his career, racking up wins and championships in Bandolero and American Speed Association (ASA) competition. The young talent teamed up with current team owner Steve Turner in 2006 to drive the fellow Texan’s ASA Late Model, and together, the two achieved many great successes along the way, culminating with tonight’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship.
Buescher’s first championship came in 2004 when he won the Texas Motor Speedway Bandolero Young Guns Series title at the ripe age of 14. Two years later, Buescher captured the ASA championship, as well as the Rookie-Of-The-Year title and the Most Popular Driver awards all in the same year. It was just a couple years later that Buescher entered his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event in 2008. Since that first start at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Buescher has amassed four wins, 27 top-fives and 46 top-10’s and an average finishing position of 11.3 in 94 starts.
This season has been a break-out year for Buescher, as he first claimed victory at the famed Daytona International Speedway in the first NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race of the season. Buescher followed up that performance with four victories in the NCWTS throughout his championship campaign.
Turner Motorsports (TMS) has had a stellar 2012 season with additional victories coming from drivers such as Nelson Piquet Jr., who like Buescher captured wins in both the NNS and the NCWTS at Road America (NNS), Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Michigan International Speedway (NCWTS). Justin Allgaier also added to the NNS win column with a victory coming at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in August.
Buescher and the entire No. 31 Great Clips/Exide Batteries/Accudoc Solutions team went into Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend planning to race their own race and let the championship take care of itself. Buescher, being a patient driver, seized the opportunity throughout the entire finale weekend to claim that elusive 2012 NCWTS championship.
“I’ve won a couple championships in my career already, but my ultimate goal was to one day be called a NASCAR champion,” said Buescher. “Today, my dream has come true. I owe so much to my team. We’ve been through a lot the last couple seasons, including coming close to being in this same spot last year. We came into the season with the mindset to never give up. We knew what had to be done this weekend and the entire Turner Motorsports organization came in focused and ready to go. Without TMS’s great partners such as Great Clips, Exide Batteries, AccuDoc Solutions, ABF, Fraternal Order of Eagles (F.O.E.), Brandt, Koike Aronson, Inc Ransome, Wolfpack Rentals, Northeastern Supply, Chevrolet and Hendrick Engines, none of this would have been possible.”
