SPARTA, Ky. (July 11, 2015) – For the second week in a row, Chris Buescher was able to overcome adversity to maintain his points lead in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Buescher battled a vibration in his No. 60 Cheez-It Ford Mustang late in the race, ultimately finishing 11th in Friday night’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Kentucky Speedway.
“It was a good points night overall for our Cheez-It Mustang, so from a big picture standpoint it worked out pretty well,” said Buescher. “It was a long night trying to find the balance. We bounced around it a lot, but never quite got what we needed. The guys worked hard. Scott [Graves] had some good strategy that got us a couple positions and really helped put us in a good spot to be on the lead lap at the end.”
The NASCAR XFINITY Series set the starting grid based on Thursday afternoon’s lone practice session. An abundance of rain throughout the week forced NASCAR to scrap both the Sprint Cup and XFINITY qualifying sessions on Friday in order to allow more practice time for the Sprint Cup cars.
Buescher lined up 15th to start the 200-Lap, 300-Mile race. He remained close to his starting position during the opening run of the race. When Buescher made his way down pit road on Lap 27 during the competition caution, the team opted for four tires, fuel and a spring rubber adjustment to help his tight Mustang.
The No. 60 Ford Mustang held its ground in 15th-place as the race approached Lap 70. A speedy four tire pit stop under caution on Lap 73 gained Buescher four positions, restarting in 11th on Lap 77.
A strong restart pushed Buescher into the top-10 for the first time of the day, when the caution flew again just a couple of laps later. On Lap 116, Buescher radioed to his team that he felt a little vibration when his Mustang was on the straightaway.
On Lap 138, Buescher made a green flag pit stop for four tires, fuel and a slight chassis adjustment. When he returned to the track he said the vibration was no longer present on the straightaway, but that it had gotten very bad when he let off the throttle.
Around 10 laps later, Buescher again radioed to the team that the vibration had gotten worse. As Buescher prepared to make a green flag pit stop for the team to try and locate what was causing the vibration, the caution flag flew.
Buescher was able to come down pit road under the yellow flag for the team to survey the car. After bolting on four fresh tires and adding fuel, the team attempted to find the cause of the vibration. Graves radioed to Buescher that all of the temperatures the team checked looked good, and that it was not a loose wheel.
When the field resumed green flag racing, Buescher radioed to the team that the vibration was a little bit better. Buescher held his ground and ultimately closed out the evening in 11th-place. The Prosper, Texas native maintains his points lead as the NASCAR XFINITY Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
NEXT UP:
Lakes Region 200
One-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Loudon, N.H.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
4:00 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and PRN
RACE SUMMARY
Chris Buescher
Started: 15
Finished: 11
Complete Race Results:
POINTS SUMMARY
Chris Buescher
2015 Season Total: First with 593 points
2015 SEASON SUMMARY
Chris Buescher
Starts Wins Top-Fives Top-10s Poles
16 2 8 10 0
