DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 9, 2021) – Chris Buescher drove all the way up to fourth with just a handful of laps remaining in Tuesday night’s Busch Clash race, but his promising run was cut short when he was collected by an incident in the final turns of Daytona’s road course. With damage to his Fastenal Ford Mustang, Buescher was forced to settled for a 17th-place finish in the chaotic exhibition event.
Buescher rolled off the grid in 13th after Monday night’s random draw. With a competition caution set for lap 15, pit strategy came into play when the No. 17 team elected to stay out with an early caution at lap eight. Buescher restarted fifth at lap 10, reporting the No. 17 machine needed more left turn.
When the competition caution waved at lap 15, the driver visited pit road for four tires, fuel, air pressure change and a track bar adjustment. Buescher took advantage of the changes and powered his Mustang up to the eight position in just two laps. Another caution flag waved at lap 22 and Buescher received fresh tires under yellow. Despite reports of some slight left front damage, he maintained track position up until a caution with eight laps to go in the race.
Pit strategy came into play once again during the caution, as the team chose not to pit for service. Buescher restarted ninth and quickly worked his way up to fourth with four laps to go. Just as he was about to finish the last corner of the 31st lap a competitor car got into the back of the driver, spinning him into the wall. Buescher ultimately took the checkered flag 17th.
Daytona Speedweeks continues Thursday with the Duels, which will officially set the field for the Daytona 500. Coverage begins on February 11th, at 7 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
