Chris Buescher is accustomed to saving gas when it comes to the end of races that he has potential in winning. If you go back to his first-career win at Mid-Ohio last August he outlasted everyone to go the distance on gas. Today was much of the same.
The No. 60 team pitted for the last time with 98 laps to go. He went the final 98 miles on one tank of gas. Of course it didn’t come without some controversy.
With 10 laps to go, teammate Darrell Wallace Jr. was leading as he was also trying to go the distance on gas. The Roush Fenway Racing teammates made contact which resulted in a flat left-front tire for Wallace. He had to pit, and wound up 17th on the day.
“That was a heck of a race for us,” Buescher said in Victory Lane. ‘It was a lot of saving fuel and Bubba was on the same strategy and we could run a lot quicker pace still. I just couldn’t do anything at the end of the straight-aways. It is what it is. We got a win and it’s hard when someone runs down on you that close. I can’t believe how slow we had to run to win.”
Of course the driver of the No. 6 begged to differ.
“That’s my teammate so I can’t really say too much unless I see a replay,” Wallace said in disbelief of what had just happened on track. “I asked the spotter after the race, and he said that we got ran over. We talk about that Dash4Cash stuff and we get jinxed. I’m glad that I’m not in the next one. He just ran over me and he ends up winning, should be an interesting Monday Morning.
Wallace led 52 laps on the afternoon, second most to Erik Jones, who led 70 circuits.
The birthday boy, Jones, was in the lead and pitted with 16 laps to go. He locked the brakes up entering pit road as he carried too much speed and received a pit road penalty. The driver of the No. 54 came back to finish in the ninth position.
Matt Kenseth had an up-and-down day as on Lap 32 he had to pit for a loose left-rear tire. This kept Kenseth off-sequence for the remainder of the race and he came home second.
“It wasn’t good to get behind early,” Kenseth said after hopping out of his machine. “We were able to make that up and stay out one time with only one set of tires left. We sort of got back on strategy. I really thought that we were going to win. I didn’t think that anyone would make it on fuel.”
There was a race within a race four for drivers. The Dash4Cash. Those drivers included the aforementioned Wallace, Regan Smith, Ty Dillon, and Daniel Suarez. The highest finisher out of those drivers would walk away with an extra $100,000 in his pocket.
For much of the day it looked like it would be a battle between Wallace and Smith and it was all the way down to the end. However, with the misfortune of Wallace it was second-life for Smith. He finished third on the afternoon and also $100,000 richer.
“That certainly takes the sting away from that third,” Smith said accepting his award. “I thought we were going to win at the end but unfortunately that No. 60 car made it to the end. Nevertheless, good job by the JR Motorsports guys. I want a win so freaking bad right now that it’s about to kill me but we’ll keep battling.”
The rest of the top-five consisted of two Sprint Cup Series regulars, Austin Dillon and Kasey Kahne.
Many people within the garage believed that the No. 33 for Richard Childress Racing had the best car in practice. However, he led only one time for 17 laps on the afternoon and finished a disappointing fourth after dominating last week in Charlotte.
The biggest incident of the race came on Lap 64 when the No. 2 of Brian Scott collided with the No. 22 of Ryan Blaney in Turn 1. Jamie Dick hit Scott as the No. 2 slid down the banking.
“The No. 22 was out of control and he got really loose off of Turn 4, so I got a run to his inside going down the frontstretch and I feel like he just didn’t give me any room. I went in there and he was stuck to my door and it caused me to suck around. That’s just the product of restarts at Dover. It sucks.”
With 12 out of the 33 XFINITY Series races in the books, Buescher remains the point leader with a 15-point cushion on second place (Ty) Dillon and defending XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott sits third 37 markers behind.
- Josh Wise Adapting to The Motorsports Group - August 14, 2016
- Carl Edwards has Fully Transitioned into Joe Gibbs Racing - August 5, 2016
- Chris Buescher Steals a Victory in Soggy Pocono Event - August 1, 2016