Chris Buescher had a strong performance at Texas Motor Speedway interrupted when his ROUSH Performance Stage 3 Mustang was caught up in an incident in front of him, but his team rebounded and he worked his way back through the field for a 19th-place finish. The team also earned two valuable stage points with a 9th-place finish in the first segment of the 501-mile event.
The Prosper, Texas native began the day at his home track from the 16th position after a random draw determined the starting grid earlier in the week. He quickly advanced through the field, as his ROUSH Performance Mustang blistered into the top ten early in the race. He would end the first segment of the race in the ninth position, collecting two valuable stage points as he battles for a playoff position.
Buescher was the first car in the field to come to pit road at the stage break, with crew chief Luke Lambert calling for wedge adjustments to aid the handling of the Ford Mustang. He would restart 20th to begin the second stage.
Once again, Buescher powered through the field and entered the top ten just 15 laps after the green flag. As the field began to hit pit road for green flag stops, Buescher came down at lap 172 for four tires and more adjustments. Unfortunately for Buescher, one of the fuel cans malfunctioned on the stop and the team was unable to get the fuel tank on his Ford full. The team was forced to pit again on lap 189 to correct the issue, leaving Buescher two laps down and in 28th – where he would end the second stage.
The No. 17 team was able to take the wave around during the stage break and get one of its laps back. On the ensuing restart, a pileup at the front of the field collected a number of cars, including Buescher’s Ford Mustang. Though the driver was able to avoid major damage, the nose on the car was impacted.
With fewer than 100 laps to go in the event, Buescher and the team had to manage the damage and keep an eye on potential strategies to get laps back. When a caution came out on lap 305, and opportunity presented itself. With fuel dwindling Lambert made a bold call to leave Buescher out on the track to get back to one lap down, needing a quick caution to get back on the lead lap. Unfortunately for the team, that caution came out just as Buescher brought the No. 17 to pit road with an empty fuel tank.
The team continued to pick off positions as laps wound down, ultimately getting back into the lucky dog position and needing just one more caution to get back on the lead lap. Buescher battled to maintain that position, but the race stayed green at the end and he would ultimately finish 19th.
Next up, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway for a Thursday night 400-mile event under the lights. Race coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, with coverage also on PRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.
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