 LONG POND, Pa. (June 28, 2020) — After earning four stage points with a seventh-place finish in the first stage Sunday afternoon’s Cup race at Pocono Raceway, Chris Buescher and the No. 17 Fastenal team were unable to overcome a spin in stage two, resulting in a 36th place finish.
Buescher rolled off the grid 11th and quickly made his way up to fourth in the opening laps of the race. When the red flag was displayed for rain just five laps in, the team was holding steady inside the top-five. The race finally got back to green at Lap 11 and the driver held his fourth-place position up to the next caution at lap 15. Aside from reports of a free handling Ford Mustang, Buescher was content with his ride. The team elected to stay out under caution and restarted fourth. Just before the end of stage one, Buescher got stuck in a bit of traffic that shuffled him back to seventh, which is where he took the green-white checkered flag. With his seventh-place stage finish, the driver racked up his seventh top-10 stage finish of the season, his fifth in the last eight races. The Prosper, Texas native elected to pit under the stage break at lap 32 for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. After restarting 24th, the driver worked his way up to 18th before the caution waved at lap 39. Buescher reported that his No. 17 machine was free handling and worse in traffic, but the team elected to stay out. The driver restarted 12th but drew the fifth caution of the race after hitting the wall and spinning. Heavy damage was reported to the tv panel and bumper cover of the No. 17 Ford. The team got to work with multiple pit stops to assess and fix damage but got caught two laps down when the race went back to green. Buescher finished stage two 35th and three laps down after pitting during the last few cautions of the stage. The goal for the final stage of racing in Pennsylvania was to try to get some laps back while continuing to work on the damage from stage two. The No. 17 team pitted at the stage break to for more tires, fuel and damage assessment. The team restarted 35th, still three laps down. Hoping for some good luck, the team carried on as usual and held track position. With 35 to go, Buescher reported that he had a tire down. The team pitted for four tires and fuel but lost another lap. As the body repair began to fall apart, the driver experienced tire rub and ultimately finished 36th, five laps down.
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 LONG POND, Pa. (June 27, 2020) — Chris Buescher drove his Fastenal Ford to a 10th-place finish Saturday afternoon in Pocono, securing his fourth top-10 of the season after a strong performance at the Tricky Triangle.
Buescher rolled off the grid 24th in the rain delayed start to Saturday afternoon’s race. After a few extra caution laps, sunny skies prevailed, and all 130 laps were completed. The driver gained seven spots and was already up to 17th early in the race. When the competition caution flag was displayed at lap 12, the team elected to pit for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Restarting 22nd, the team maneuvered up two spots before another caution flag came out at lap 20. The driver took the green-white checkered flag for stage one in 19th. The Prosper, Texas native elected to stay out during the stage break and restarted 11th for stage two. Buescher held track position and even made his way up to fifth by lap 49 as green flag pit stops cycled through the field. At lap 58, the team made their way down pit road for a standard four-tire pit stop with fuel and a track bar adjustment. The No. 17 team fell a lap down but was able to gain it back with the free pass when a caution for debris waved at lap 64. After restarting 24th, the team gained a few more spots to finish stage two in 20th. Buescher lined up 18th in the final stage of racing in Pennsylvania. The driver reported that his No. 17 machine handling needed to be tightened up, but the team stayed on track. With 45 to go, Buescher had driven his way up to 15th. The team stayed out on track as green flag pit stops shuffled through, finding their way up to fourth and eventually settling into third. Teammate Ryan Newman had a similar strategy as he was able to take the lead. With 18 to go, both teammates made their way down pit road. The 17 team took two right side tires and fuel and headed back to the track 15th with 15 laps to go. With ease, Buescher worked his way up five more positions to finish 10th at ‘The Tricky Triangle.’ |
