Chris Buescher nabbed another top five finish at Sonoma. (Photo: Cornnell Chu | The Podium Finish)
SONOMA, Calif. – Ford Performance and RFK Racing may have an emerging road course specialist in Chris Buescher.
After all, the driver of the No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang seems right at home on these serpentine tracks in the NASCAR Cup Series. Last year, the Prosper, Texas native drove to an impressive runner up result.
This year, Buescher nearly duplicated those incredible efforts particularly by qualifying seventh for Sunday’s 110 lap race at Sonoma Raceway. When Round 16 was underway for the NASCAR Cup Series season, while it was a broke even outcome in Stage 1, it resulted in four stage points.
Remarkably, despite the myriad of pit strategies in Stage 2, Buescher placed 11th and in decent position to score a strong finish at the 1.99-mile road course. Sure, the victory may have not been in the offing but it was not due to a lack of effort.
Namely, the longtime Ford racer had a car that could have likely challenged the No. 19 of Martin Truex Jr. Instead, Buescher had to make do with the track position he was dealt in Stage 3.
Patient, steady and crafty, Buescher improved from an 11th place finish in Stage 2 to a fourth place result at Sonoma. Moving from 13 to 11th in the points standings, perhaps Buescher will work his way into the Playoffs with consistent finishes.
Buescher loves racing at the 1.99-mile, 12-turn Sonoma Raceway. (Photo: Cornnell Chu | The Podium Finish)
Save for a 17th place result in last month’s race at Kansas, Buescher has finished 12th or better in five of the past six races. Jumping from 16th to 11th in the points standings, it appears that the RFK Racing driver may be a factor in the final 10 regular season races.
Following Sunday’s race, Buescher tipped his cap to his hardy crew for preparing another strong Ford Mustang. Still, he would have relished a possibility of squaring off the eventual race winner.
“Everybody did a good job,” Buescher said. “Our Fifth Third Bank Mustang had really solid speed on the day. It was a methodical race. I thought we were in a good spot there at the end and got a little caught up in the retaliation stuff going on right in front of us and checked us up a good amount.
“It’s hard to say if we had anything for the 19. We never quite got to him today, so I think we still have a little work to do yet, but it was a good job by everybody.”
Above all else, Buescher praised his over-the-wall pit crew for executing strong, steady pit stops that kept him in contention at the FIA Grade 2 track.
“I really wanted a shot to try to fight the 19 there,” he said. “It’s really the only car I didn’t quite get around. I think we had speed at times – two runs – and just didn’t work with track position. Everybody did a really nice job at RFK and our Fifth Third Bank Mustang.
“They did a great job on pit road, had some good strategy calls there. We’re where we needed to be, just needed it to finish a little bit differently for us, but it was a really strong day.”
A former teammate may have taught this Ford Performance driver how to excel at road courses. (Photo: Cornnell Chu | The Podium Finish)
While it remains to be seen if Buescher’s road course savvy carries over onto a street course like Chicago on Sunday, July 2, he took the time to praise a former teammate for showing him the ropes.
“I just enjoy road racing,” Buescher said. “I like doing something different from time to time. I’ve had a ball at these things since I was nine years old in a Bandolero running the infield road course at Texas . It clicked then and it’s continued to through my career. I’ve had good help from good road racers to help me fine-tune some of that.
“I had a good teammate in AJ Allmendinger for a few years and all of that builds up to strong runs and enjoying these things. Take the time to let it sink in and know that you’re gonna have a shot at it and confidence is high coming into it and that makes you have a good day.”
