Chris Buescher and the No. 17 Fastenal Team scored a 14th-place finish in Sunday’s second half of a double header Monster Mile weekend at Dover International Speedway. The finish was Buescher’s career-high Cup Series finish at the 1-mile oval, known as one of the toughest tracks on the NASCAR circuit.
Buescher rolled off the grid fifth, and was running sixth when an early caution came out on lap five. The team elected to stay out on track and restarted seventh. At lap 23, the driver was shuffled back to 15th. When the caution flag waved nine laps later, the team took the opportunity to pit for a track bar adjustment, an air pressure adjustment and fresh tires. Buescher got back on track to restart 16th, but was unable to maintain track position. He took the green-white checkered flag for stage one in 20th.
The team visited pit road at the stage break for fuel, fresh tires and a track bar adjustment. After a quick stop, Buescher got back on track to restart 21st. Before the field took the green, the red flag was displayed and the race was paused to fix an issue with the racing surface. When the green flag waved, Buescher gave it all he had but shuffled back a few spots and was running 22nd when the caution flag waved at lap 99. The team decided to pit for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. The changes seemed to bode well for Buescher as he quickly moved up to 15th. Without enough laps to gain more momentum, the driver finished stage two in 15th.
At the stage break, the team pitted for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. After restarting 15th, the driver lost three positions by the time the caution flag waved at Lap 215. The team decided to pit for four tires and fuel, but made up some ground on pit road and restarted 15th. By lap 242, the driver was running 16th when he reported that his No. 17 machine was better in clean air.
Buescher worked his way back to 15th and maintained track position all the way up to lap 288 when a caution flag waved. The driver asked for adjustments to tighten up the car and the team pitted for a track bar adjustment, fuel and tires. The team restarted 14th and hit the pavement with 17 laps to go and ultimately took the checkered flag in the same position.
Buescher and the No. 17 team return to track at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, August 29 7:30 p.m. EST on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.
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