James Buescher say he’s “coming for this championship” with win at Iowa Speedway

He may have only gained a handful of points on Matt Crafton with his win at Iowa Speedway, but Buescher says that “slow and steady wins the race. We’re coming for this championship.” Following his win at Iowa Speedway, Buescher now sits 37 points behind Crafton.

Buescher picked up the win at Iowa Speedway after opting to take four tires with 31 laps remaining. It was a split second decision that the 23-year-old made, but it was the decision that won him the race.

“I told (crew chief Mike) Shelton in the hauler this morning, ‘don’t put a set on before lap 100 because I’m going to want them later,’” said Buescher in his post-race interview. “We were in a position to do it and it worked out.”

Buescher was able to make his way through the field and pass Ross Chastain on a late race restart, and then held him off on the second attempt at a green-white-checkered. The win on Sunday marked the second win this season for the defending series champion.

“That was possibly the best call we’ve made all season,” Buescher said of the four-tire stop. “The fresh tires were what we needed. It was really hard to complete passes on equal tires, let alone when you have older tires.”

For Buescher, Iowa was a place that had bitten him in the past so it was nice to get a win there this year.

“This is a place the three of us up here have been trying to win at for a long time,” Buescher said as he sat next to team owner Steve Turner and crew chief Michael Shelton inside the media center. “We came really close more than we’d like to talk about.”

Now with momentum on his side, Buescher heads to Chicagoland Speedway this weekend where he won last year. Buescher came back to win after going two laps down due to a carburetor change.

“I couldn’t be more excited about going back to Chicagoland Speedway, especially coming off a huge win for our Turner Scott Motorsports team last weekend at Iowa Speedway,” Buescher commented. “I think it goes without saying that this style of track falls right into our wheelhouse, and I feel like our Rheem team will be able to come out of here with another solid finish and hopefully our third victory of the season.”

It was only about a month ago that people counted Buescher out of the championship hunt due to bad luck in the beginning half of the season. However, as Buescher said then, the fight was far from over and he’s proving that to be true as they’ll be no giving up these final eight races of the season.

Are you a die-hard NASCAR fan? Follow every lap, every pit stop, every storyline? We're looking for fellow enthusiasts to share insights, race recaps, hot takes, or behind-the-scenes knowledge with our readers. Click Here to apply!

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

SM SPEEDWAY SHOTS

Latest articles

RYAN BLANEY WINS BACK-TO-BACK AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney won Sunday’s Dollar Tree 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, earning his third NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2026 season and the 20th win of his Cup Series career.

Team Penske NASCAR Cup Series Race Report – New Hampshire

Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Mustang Dark Horse team scored their second consecutive victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Wood Brothers Racing – Race Report: New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Josh Berry and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team extended their streak of consecutive top-10 finishes to four with a strong third-place run in Sunday’s Dollar Tree 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Front Row Motorsports: NHMS NCS Race Report – Noah Gragson, Todd Gilliland, Zane Smith

Noah Gragson (Started 19th, Finished 10th / Running, completed 301 of 301 laps)

Best New Zealand Online Casinos