Chris Buescher and the No. 17 team charged through the field in much of Sunday’s 312-mile race from Phoenix Raceway, ultimately finishing 15th after overcoming mid-race adversity.
Buescher qualified 21st in his Socios.com Ford Mustang on Saturday as NASCAR debuted its new short-track package this weekend. He wasted no time advancing from that position though as the No. 17 picked off multiple spots early in the 60-lap opening stage.
The Texan ran 15th by lap 10 and drove all the way to 11th by the end of the opening segment. Following the first stop of the afternoon in the stage break, Buescher would restart 10th for stage two and eventually cycled to ninth after the first pit stop under green-flag conditions at lap 119.
The first yellow of the afternoon was displayed at lap 138 with Buescher in ninth. Under the team’s stop in the caution break the car unfortunately fell off the jack as Buescher lost a chunk of the track position he had gained to that point. But, after restarting 17th he would quickly get back to 13th to end stage two.
Buescher fired off 11th for the final stage and was 12th with 50 to go after another round of green-flag stops. A caution with 10 to go separated the race from running green to the end as the No. 17 took four fresh tires putting him 13th on the ensuing restart. After an instant caution he restarted 14th and went on to cross the stripe 15th.
The No. 17 team returns to action next week as the action shifts back east at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Race coverage on Sunday is set for 3 p.m. ET on FOX. Radio coverage can be heard on PRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.
RFK Racing PR
