LOUDON, N.H. (July 18, 2015) – Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher battled a loose No. 60 Zest Ford Mustang in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Despite the loose car, Buescher was able to bring home a 14th-place finish, also maintaining his lead in the driver point standings.
“We struggled throughout the race with just no grip,” said Buescher. “I’m not exactly sure what it is. We haven’t had a whole lot of luck with this chassis number, so maybe there’s something to it.”
Buescher advanced to the second round of knockout qualifying in his No. 60 Zest Mustang, before ending up with a 20th-place starting spot.
Under cloudy skies, the No. 60 machine rolled off for 200 laps of action at the one-mile track. Early on in the first green flag run, Buescher informed the team that his Zest Mustang was too free in the center and on exit.
Crew chief Scott Graves passed on an early opportunity to visit pit road, not wanting to give up too much track position. However, Graves took the next chance under caution on Lap 39 to take two tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment to help the loose car.
Buescher restarted 11th on Lap 43, but by the time the next caution flag flew on Lap 57, his Mustang was still too free. Graves opted to stick to his plan, and kept Buescher on track under the caution.
The No. 60 lined up 13th for the Lap 65 restart. As the longest green flag run of the day unfolded, Buescher was quiet on the radio. When green flag pit stops began to approach, Buescher informed the team that his Mustang was still too free and that he needed more rear grip.
The No. 60 Zest Mustang made its way down pit road under the green flag on Lap 117 for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment.
The adjustments proved to help Buescher’s Mustang, but the lap lost due to the long run and green flag pit stops proved too much for the team to overcome. Buescher crossed the line in 14th, one lap down to the leaders.
With the result, Buescher holds a 31 point leader over Chase Elliott in the NASCAR XFINITY Series point standings, as the series travels to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
NEXT UP:
Lilly Diabetes 250
2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis, Ind.
Saturday, July 25, 2015
3:30 p.m. ET on NBC
RACE SUMMARY
Chris Buescher
Started: 20
Finished: 14
Complete Race Results:
www.roushfenway.com
POINTS SUMMARY
Chris Buescher
2015 Season Total: First with 623 points
2015 SEASON SUMMARY
Chris Buescher
Starts Wins Top-Fives Top-10s Poles
17 2 8 10 0
