Chris Buescher waves on at the crowd before the Echopark Grand Texas Prix at COTA. ( Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
DEL VALLE, Texas — Chris Buescher was able to turn around a less than ideal start to finish in the top 10 in Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at COTA.
Buescher qualified his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse in 20th position. However, the No. 17 team found themselves having to change the steering rack which resulted in Buescher starting in the rear for a mechanical change on race day. Buescher had a lot on his hands at the drop of the green flag.
It did not take the No. 17 Ford long to gain some needed positions. By the time Buescher hit pit road on Lap 12, he was already up to 26th. Remaining composed and focused, Buescher would continue gaining positions through the laps. On Lap 25, he needed to come to pit road again and did so from the 14th position.
Chris Buescher hops his No. 17 Ford Dark Horse Mustang around the turns at COTA. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix would remain caution-free aside from the stage breaks for Stages 1 and 2.
“Without the cautions and with the restart zone being in a better place, I think everyone just tried to control a lot of that. It was very crazy last time but it certainly was not our best foot forward as a sport. I don’t know how the race was overall, but I would have liked a couple of more shots to try something in this race. Certainly, we survived with minimal chaos up there at the top of Turn 1 and had a pretty smooth and clean race really.” Buescher said.
Passed a lot of cars today @cota! pic.twitter.com/lDVD9KEV0W
— No. 17 Team (@RFK17Team) March 24, 2024
As the race stayed green, Buescher took control of his time and effort and continued climbing the leaderboard until he came across the finish line in the eighth running position.
“We were behind the eight ball to get started there, having to drop to the rear. We had a freak deal happen with a parts failure in practice and qualifying. That was unfortunate, but I am proud of everybody on this Fastenal Ford Mustang team to pick ‘em off all day long,” Buescher said. “That was the name of the game. We knew we would be in a really tough spot all day and we knew we would need a handful of things to fall our way if we were going to compete for a win.
“I am proud of the top 10 finish. We had some big gains. We have some stuff that we learned and we will be better next time.”
Richmond Raceway hosts the seventh race of the season which is set for Easter Sunday. The Toyota Owners 400 will begin at 7 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
