DOVER, Del. (May 30, 2015) – Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher turned a gutsy fuel call by crew chief Scott Graves into his second win of the season in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Dover International Speedway. Buescher made the fuel last in his No. 60 Roush Performance Ford Mustang, leading the final 10 laps of the race and crossing the finish line first, extending his lead in the series point standings.
“Honestly I never know what to believe when it comes to the end of these races,” said Buescher. “Scott [Graves] always tells me we are a couple short, but you just never know how much you need to save. We saved quite a bit there at the end, and that whole run really we were just trying to be easy on the throttle. Toward the end of the run we started to have to clutch it and let it coast at least half of the straightaway, which is really tough to do. I felt like we were going so slow, and it is hard to convince yourself to do it. We had just enough left to do the burnout and we got ourselves another win.”
Buescher and the No. 60 Roush Performance team traveled to Dover International Speedway for the first of two races this season. After three strong qualifying rounds on Saturday morning, Buescher started outside pole, taking the green in second.
The No. 60 Ford Mustang started the 200-Lap race much too loose, which caused Buescher to drop back to sixth early in the run. When the caution flew for the second time of the day on Lap 56, Graves called his driver down pit road to make some big adjustments to the handling.
The Prosper, Texas native visited pit road for four tires and fuel along with spring rubber and track bar adjustments. When the race returned to green, Buescher was happy with the adjustments at the start of the run. His Roush Performance Mustang was strong enough to maintain position inside the top-10.
When the caution flew again shortly after the halfway point of the race, Graves called his driver back down pit road for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. Buescher lined up eighth on the Lap 105 restart, with varying pit strategies at the front of the field.
As the laps wound down without a caution flag, Buescher was forced into fuel-saving mode. Roush Fenway teammate Bubba Wallace was on the same strategy at the front of the field. In the closing laps of the race Buescher was able to catch his teammate and pass him, leading the final 10 laps on the way to victory, Buescher’s second win in the last three races.
“This is a result of a lot of hard work through the offseason and some new people on board at Roush Fenway Racing,” said Buescher. “At the end of last year we felt we were making really good headway and were starting to get a couple top-fives and be competitive at the end of races. Everyone worked hard in the offseason and we started where we left off. It has been a smooth start to the beginning of the year. We are just trying to do what we can each and every week to win races. If we do that, everything else comes with it.”
Buescher and Roush Fenway teammate Ryan Reed are the only series regulars to win so far this season. The win is the third of Buescher’s NASCAR XFINITY Series career and Roush Fenway’s 17th overall win at the Monster Mile. The victory also makes Buescher eligible for the $100,000 ‘Dash 4 Cash’ prize when the series visits to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
With his second win of the season, Buescher extends his points lead to 15 over second-place Ty Dillon. After a week off, the NASCAR XFINITY Series will return to action at Michigan International Speedway.
NEXT UP:
Great Clips 250
Two-mile Michigan International Speedway
Brooklyn, Mich.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
1:30 p.m. ET on FoxSports1 and MRN
RACE SUMMARY
Chris Buescher
Started: 2
Finished: 1
Complete Race Results:
POINTS SUMMARY
Chris Buescher
2015 Season Total: First with 448 points
2015 SEASON SUMMARY
Chris Buescher
Starts Wins Top-Fives Top-10s Poles
12 2 6 8 0
