Race Weekend Central

Chris Buescher Leaves Darlington with Solid Finish, Fourth Straight Top 20

Chris Buescher had a roller coaster night at Darlington that resulted in a finish that didn’t reflect the team’s performance during the 500 miles.

Buescher overcame a lot during Sunday’s race just to finish 13th. But to the organization, a that finish is a positive result for a team heading in the right direction.

“It went really well overall,” said Buescher. “We had good speed with our Bush’s Best Since 1908 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. I am proud of this group they did everything I could ask, the pit stops were really really solid. The only thing we had two tires come apart on the right rears and that put us behind on track position from where we were. That was unfortunate but from start to finish, just a solid effort.”

Following Sunday night’s race, Buescher sits 23rd in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings as the circuit heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He is in a must-win situation, but looking at last year, it’s not something that is way out there. Buescher was one of the few drivers who survived last season’s race where he finished ninth.

“I doubt it,” said Buescher about next weekend’s race at Indianapolis being like 2017. “Last year’s race was kind of a freak deal. Indy doesn’t usually go that way but we’ll see how it plays out. That’s a race track where we’ve had decent finishes at, we haven’t run all that well but we had good strategy and played it right. We do have good momentum though, the last two races have been really solid for us so we will apply that to Indy.”

With his 13th in Sunday’s race, Buescher tallied his fourth straight top-20 finish and his best result since Daytona in July (sixth). It has been a struggle for Buescher this season on keeping the goods coming without the bads interfering.

“I wish I knew,” Buescher said regarding keeping the momentum without having bad luck interfere. “We keep trying to take these days and learn from them and make sure we don’t have the lows but its tough. We keep fighting and if these get to be normal then we can start looking at top fives and top 10s as being a good day.”

As the series inches closer and closer to the end of the season, names are beginning to be thrown around in the silly season picture. Buescher is one of those drivers whose name has been brought up. Strong finishes like Sunday’s are ones that can land a driver with either job security or an eye to better opportunities.

“I am not worried about all of the rumor mill, silly season, and B.S. honestly,” Buescher said. “I know what our deal is and I am not concerned about everything going on so we always put our best foot forward in trying to do everything we can do in every race and if we keep that up, that’s how you have these better days, work toward wins, and how to get into the playoffs.”

About the author

His favorite tracks on the circuit include Barber Motorsports Park, Iowa Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, and Bristol Motor Speedway.

During the season, Christian also spends time as a photographer with multiple other outlets shooting Monster Energy AMA Supercross, Minor League & Major League Baseball, and NCAA Football.

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