JOLIET, Ill. (July 19, 2014) – Chris Buescher headed to Chicagoland Speedway for the first time in his NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) career this Saturday. After qualifying in 13th the No.60 Ford EcoBoost Mustang started off slightly loose but tightened up as the race went on and gained significant speed throughout the day. The Roush Fenway Racing driver was able to consistently pass the cars in front of him one by one and ran in the top ten for the majority of the day. Slight contact with the No.5 car of Kasey Kahne set Buescher back slightly towards the end, but he kept digging and brought the No.60 Ford home with an eighth-place finish.
After narrowly missing the third round of qualifying, Buescher would begin the EnjoyIllinois.com 300 from the 13th-spot. The EcoBoost Mustang showed speed right out of the gate as Buescher soon began passing his competitors. Contact with the No.39 car of Ryan Seig early on caused some right fender damage that marginally hindered his efforts, but Buescher still had a lot of time left to catch up.
The No.60 team made a wedge adjustment on the first stop of the day under green at lap 53 to correct a loose handling race car. Buescher quickly gained ground and was making lap times as fast as the race leader. A yellow came out soon after on lap 69 and Crew Chief Scott Graves chose to come in to top off fuel and work on the right-front fender damage.
Buescher soon cracked the top ten by lap 75 of the 200 lap race and continued to make strides as the day progressed. The Rookie of the Year contender was sitting in seventh after a caution on lap 122 but was soon bumped by the No.5 car and set back to 10th.
Buescher sustained his strong run and never gave up, passing a few more cars before the night was done, taking the checkered in eighth. Although he fell two spots short of taking home the Dash 4 Cash prize, Buescher captured his seventh top ten of the season.
Buescher will return to the track at Indianapolis on Saturday, July 26th sitting eighth in points. Coverage of the Lilly Diabetes 250 begins at 4:30 pm on ESPN.
