WATKINS Glen, N.Y. (Aug. 9, 2015) – Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher ran solidly inside the top-five for the majority of Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Watkins Glen International. Buescher was able to navigate several late race cautions to finish third in his Ford EcoBoost Mustang, the highest finishing XFINITY Series regular.
“It’s a good day for us,” said Buescher. “We knew that we had to bounce back a little bit from our last several weeks, so it was a really solid day. We’ve been top-five all weekend, right around fifth, and we were able to get a couple more there at the end and come home third. It’s a really good points day for us. The car was in one piece the whole time and never had any issues. We’ve got some momentum going into Mid-Ohio and Road America.”
Saturday morning’s qualifying session netted Buescher a fifth-place starting position for the 82-Lap race at the 2.45-mile road course. Early on in the race, Buescher was able to gain two positions, radioing to his team that he was happy with the handling of his Ford EcoBoost Mustang.
As green flag pit stops cycled through, Buescher inherited the lead on Lap 21. Crew chief Scott Graves planned to have his driver lead one lap, and then make his way down pit road for a scheduled stop. Unfortunately for Graves’ strategy, the caution flew before Buescher was able to pit.
On Lap 22, Buescher made his way down pit road under the caution for four tires, fuel and a slight chassis adjustment. Buescher lined up 13th for the restart, since several cars had already pit prior to the caution.
Buescher methodically worked his way back into the top-five, regaining third by Lap 40. He maintained his spot in the top-five before visiting pit road for the second time of the day on Lap 51. Buescher came down pit road under green flag conditions for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment.
He returned to the track in 20th, as the remainder of green flag stops cycled through. By Lap 59, Buescher was back up to third. When the caution flew on Lap 61, Graves instructed his driver to save fuel for the possibility of a green-white-checker finish.
Through multiple restarts in the closing laps of the Zippo 200, Buescher maintained his ground and brought his No. 60 Ford EcoBoost Mustang home in third.
With the result, Buescher holds a 24 point leader over Chase Elliott and Ty Dillon in the NASCAR XFINITY Series point standings, as the series travels to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where Buescher is the defending winner.
NEXT UP:
Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio
2.4-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Lexington, Ohio
Saturday, August 15, 2015
3:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and MRN
RACE SUMMARY
Chris Buescher
Started: 5
Finished: 3
Complete Race Results:
www.roushfenway.com
POINTS SUMMARY
Chris Buescher
2015 Season Total: First with 724 points
2015 SEASON SUMMARY
Chris Buescher
Starts Wins Top-Fives Top-10s Poles
20 2 9 11 0
