Buescher Battles Tight-Handling Race Car for 16th-Place Finish at Auto Club Speedway
FONTANA, Calif. (March, 23 2014) – Starting from the 12th position in the TreatMyClot.com 300 at Auto Club Speedway, James Buescher and the No. 99 Rheem Toyota Camry, were looking like a team that could contend for the victory through the first third of the 150-lap event. With the multiple long green-flag stretches, the handling on the No. 99 started to slip away. The RAB Racing team didn’t give up however and continued to battle for a top-10 finish.
The team had multiple opportunities to adjust on their Toyota Camry during the four pit stops during the day. It was on lap 124 that the leader chased down Buescher and put the No. 99 team a lap down. The Rheem team however caught a break just a few laps later when the yellow flag was displayed for fluid on the track. Buescher was the beneficiary of ‘the lucky dog’ and received his lap back when the yellow was displayed. During this yellow-flag period, the team came back down pit road one more time to adjust on the No. 99 Toyota Camry. During this extended pit stop it was discovered that a spring rubber had fallen out of place causing for their Rheem Toyota Camry to be tight through the corners. With less than 20 laps to go, Buescher made a last ditch effort at salvaging a top-10 finish, but a combination of the amount of laps left, and bad track position lead Buescher to come up shy and ultimately finished in the 16th position.
James Buescher Quote:
“Our Rheem Camry started off really good when the race started but as we got into longer green-flag runs, the handling just went away. We later discovered that we had a spring rubber fall out of place causing for the handling to get progressively worse and not respond to the changes we made during pit stops. We definitely had some bright spots in the day but unfortunately our bad luck this season is continuing to follow us. Hopefully we can change it around during this off weekend and go to my home track of Texas Motor Speedway and get the finish this team deserves.”
Upcoming Race:
The NASCAR Nationwide Series will have a weekend off and will return to action for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday April 4. The event can be seen on ESPN2 starting at 8:30pm EDT. The event can also be heard on SiriusXM Satellite Radio, channel 90 and on PRN Radio.
First Practice
Position: 14
Fastest Lap: 42.044 sec.
Laps: 11
Final Practice
Position: 3
Fastest Lap: 41.326 sec.
Laps: 20
Qualifying
Position: 12
Fastest Lap: 41.418 sec.
Race
Position: 16
Laps Completed/Total: 150/150
About RAB:
Originally founded in 2005, RAB Racing with Brack Maggard is a Concord, North Carolina-based auto racing team that fields entries in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. RAB Racing has fielded entries in the ARCA Racing Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. This season will mark the sixth season of full-time NASCAR competition for the organization. With the support of Toyota, RAB Racing is poised and ready to take the next step in capturing the organization’s first NASCAR Championship. To learn more about RAB Racing, visit www.TeamRAB.com.
