BRISTOL, Tenn. (Aug. 21, 2015) – A bold pit call by crew chief Scott Graves had Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher in contention for the win Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. Buescher restarted in the lead in his No. 60 Roush Performance Mustang for the green-white-checker finish, but ultimately ran out of fuel, finishing 11th.
“It’s unfortunate,” said Buescher. “I’m really upset. It was a really good day for our Roush Performance Tindol Ford Mustang. We just needed the track position. We were faster than a lot of guys we were racing around all day, and once we got track position we showed we could run away from these guys. We had the speed, but it wasn’t meant to be. I’m glad we took the chance. I wouldn’t change it if we could do it over again, but unfortunately it knocked us right out of a top-10 and out of a win.”
The NASCAR XFINITY Series visited Bristol Motor Speedway for the second time of the 2015 season, this time for a one-day-show. Teams and drivers were to practice, qualify and race all on Friday.
Friday afternoon’s qualifying session netted Buescher a fifth-place starting position for the 300-Lap race at the .53-mile bull ring. Buescher maintained his position inside the top-10 during the opening run of the race.
When the first caution flag of the day flew on Lap 52, Graves called Buescher down pit road for right side tires and fuel. Several teams opted to take four tires, which put Buescher in second for the restart.
The Prosper, Texas native settled comfortably into the top-five, until visiting pit road for the second time of the day under caution on Lap 130 for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment to help the tight Mustang.
As the race approached halfway, Buescher’s Mustang was still quick enough to maintain pace inside the top-10. Buescher felt as though he had a faster car than eighth-place, but was finding it difficult to pass the cars in front of him.
A caution on Lap 192 allowed Graves the opportunity to leave Buescher on the track as the cars in front of him visited pit road. By virtue of staying out, in an effort to gain much needed track position, Buescher lined up first for the restart on Lap 198.
Buescher paced the field for the remainder of the race, until running out of fuel during the green-white-checker finish. The No. 60 Mustang was credited with an 11th-place finish.
With the result, Buescher holds a 19 point leader over Ty Dillon in the NASCAR XFINITY Series point standings as the series travels to Road America.
NEXT UP:
Road America 180 Fired up by Johnsonville
4.05-mile Road America
Elkhart Lake, Wis.
Saturday, August 29, 2015
3:00 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and MRN
RACE SUMMARY
Chris Buescher
Started: 5
Finished: 11
Complete Race Results:
www.roushfenway.com
POINTS SUMMARY
Chris Buescher
2015 Season Total: First with 800 points
2015 SEASON SUMMARY
Chris Buescher
Starts Wins Top-Fives Top-10s Poles
22 2 10 12 0
