Chris Buescher during practice/qualifying for the USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Photo: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)
LOUDON, N.H. — As the NASCAR Cup Series enters the final stretch of the regular season, Chris Buescher, who has been so close to winning on multiple occasions, finds himself in the middle of the playoff battle.
After the heartbreaking defeats at both Kansas and Darlington, Buescher sat 15th on the playoff grid entering the USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Buescher and the No. 17 struggled for most of the race, running and finishing outside of the top 10 in both stages and were looking at an 11th-15th place finish.
That was until the rain hit and instead of calling the race early, NASCAR decided to finish the race using the wet-weather tires, opening up a big opportunity for some teams.
Chris Buescher racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway during the USA Today 301. (Photo: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)
This decision gave new life to the No. 17 team as the car woke up and Buescher drove to finish in fifth place. Christopher Bell went on to claim the win, sweeping the weekend.
“There was no quit in this Fastenal group today,” Buescher said. “It was awesome to come home with a top five. We were really good in the rain when it was wet.”
The fifth-place finish is the fourth top-five and eighth top 10 on the season for Buescher and his points gap to the playoff cutline increased to +50.
Once the track began drying late in the race, it became a one-groove surface, which resulted in the drivers going all-out for track position. Buescher was able to maintain his track position throughout the numerous restarts and jockeyed for position to end the race.
Chris Buescher (17) battling Chase Elliott (9), Michael McDowell (34) and William Byron (24) for position during the USA Today 301. (Photo: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)
“There at the end there was really just one good groove and that made restarts a battle,” said Buescher. “We were able to preserve through all that and bring this thing home with a handful of more tire marks on the door than when we went in under red initially, but a really good night for us.”
The series heads to Nashville Superspeedway for race No. 19 on the season this weekend and Buescher will look to continue the momentum gained with the top five at New Hampshire to keep growing his cushion to the cutline.
