Buescher Finishes 9th At Home Track |

04/11/2015

Buescher Finishes 9th At Home Track

FORT WORTH, Texas (April 11, 2015) – Early contact with the wall in Friday night’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Texas Motor Speedway did not slow down Chris Buescher and the No. 60 Safety-Kleen team. Team and driver battled hard all race long to come home in ninth.

“It came down there to the end and we got tight,” said Buescher. “That was kind of the trend for us and it probably had a lot to do with the fact I got in the wall early. We didn’t have a very good aero package after that and I take the blame for that. The guys did a good job getting our Safety-Kleen Mustang back in good shape and we were able to race our way back up into the top-five at one point. Coming down to the closing laps we lost a little bit and went a little to the tight side. That was kind of the trend for the night, but we had a good recovery.”

After qualifying on Friday afternoon, the Prosper, Texas native lined up 10^th to start the 200-Lap, 300-Mile race under the lights. On Lap 1, Buescher scraped the wall off of turn two. When the caution flag flew later that same lap, crew chief Scott Graves took the opportunity to bring his young driver down pit road to repair any damage and take four fresh tires and fuel.

Under the caution flag, Buescher took responsibility for the damage and promised his team that he would get it back. After restarting 39^th on Lap 5, Buescher worked his way up to 18^th just four laps later. By Lap 13, he had cracked into the top-15 again.

The caution flag flew again on Lap 16, with Buescher informing the team that his Mustang was pretty good, but a little tight through the center. Graves did not want to use another set of tires too early in the race, so Buescher did not visit pit road with the rest of the leaders.

The No. 60 Safety-Kleen Mustang lined up second for the Lap 21 restart. Fresh tires quickly won over, with Buescher settling into 15^th on Lap 25. During this green flag run, Buescher’s Mustang was again too tight.

A caution on Lap 63 allowed Buescher to visit pit road and get back on the same pit strategy as the leaders. The No. 60 team changed four tires, added fuel and made a chassis adjustment to try and help Buescher’s tight Mustang.

A quick pit stop gained a few positions, and Buescher gained a few more on the Lap 68 restart. Within 10 laps, Buescher again found himself inside the top-10.

Through the middle of the race, Buescher continued to race inside the top-10, battling a car that was too tight.

With 25 laps remaining, the sophomore in the NASCAR XFINITY Series found himself in the top-five. As his car continued to tighten up, Buescher would ultimately close out the evening in ninth, his fourth top-10 of the season.

With the result, Buescher remains second to Ty Dillon in the NASCAR XFINITY Series point standings, just two points out of the lead.

NEXT UP:

Drive to Stop Diabetes 300

.53-mile Bristol Motor Speedway

Bristol, Tenn

Saturday, April 18, 2015

1:30 p.m. ET on FOXSPORTS1 and PRN

RACE SUMMARY

Chris Buescher

Started: 10

Finished: 9

Complete Race Results: