Coming off a breakthrough win at Bristol Motor Speedway, Chris Buescher returned to his home state of Texas with some much-needed momentum.
Starting 13th after a respectable qualifying effort, the Fastenal Ford made its way into the top-10 before lap 50. With the opening stage seeing five cautions for incident, crew chief Scott Graves elected to keep the No. 17 on the track until the final caution of stage one, placing Buescher 28th at the green-checkered flag.
A select amount of cars pitted under the stage break, placing Buescher 19th to begin stage two. Once again, there would be five cautions for incident in the stage with numerous drivers having tire issues. The Fastenal Ford went for a slide off turn 4 just shy of lap 200, but managed no damage. On lap 210, Buescher would finish the stage P19.
Graves kept the No. 17 Ford on the track under the stage break, lining Buescher up sixth for the restart. A rain delay around lap 220 would find Chris in the fifth position.
When the race resumed on lap 223, the No. 17 drove up to the third position with the leader in his sights. Unfortunately, the Fastenal Mustang succumbed to a flat right rear tire with 92 laps to go. The pit crew worked vigorously to make repairs, but Buescher would ultimately retire from the race to finish 30th.
Next up on the schedule is Talladega Superspeedway, as Sunday’s action is set for 2 p.m. ET on NBC. Race coverage can also be heard on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
RFK Racing PR
