RACE RECAP:
· Coming off his career-best finish of second at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, Buescher was optimistic heading back to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway for his second career start at the 1.5-mile quad-oval.
· After two solid practice sessions on Friday morning, Buescher captured the second starting position in his No. 31 Wolf Pack Rentals Chevrolet, laying down a lap of 30.344 seconds. This was Buescher’s career-best qualifying effort in NASCAR competition.
· Starting the race on the outside of row one, Buescher fell into line right behind leader Kyle Busch as the front two trucks pulled away from the third-place competitor. As Buescher felt out the handling of his Turner Motorsports Chevrolet, the Texas native was passed and moved back one position, to third-place on lap eight.
· The first caution slowed the field on lap 11 as Buescher radioed to Crew Chief Michael Shelton that his truck was “pretty decent but snug in turns three and four.” The field went back to green-flag conditions on lap 15 with the No. 31 Chevrolet in the third position. On the restart, Buescher regained second-place which the 20-year-old held onto until the second caution on lap 26 for an accident in turn four.
· Shelton called Buescher to the attention of his Wolf Pack Rentals pit crew for four tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment to help with the “tight through the center” handling condition. Varying pit strategies were played among the other competitors, forcing Buescher to restart from eighth-place on lap 30. Ten laps into the run, Buescher reported to his crew that he felt a vibration in the rear of the truck, but continued to run in the seventh position.
· As the green-flag run ensued, Buescher’s vibration continued to get worse as he feel back to 11th-place on lap 75. Green-flag pit stops began to cycle through and Shelton radioed for Buescher to come to pit road on lap 80. Right as Buescher began to make his move to the apron, the caution was displayed for a wreck on the front stretch, allowing the No. 31 Wolf Pack Rentals Chevrolet to remain on the lead-lap.
· Once pit road opened, Buescher came in for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment on lap 84. The following lap, Buescher returned to pit road to top off with fuel, as the tank didn’t get completely full on the first stop. The field restarted on lap 90 with Buescher scored in the ninth position.
· By lap 108, Buescher had moved up to sixth-place and was on the hunt for his second top-five finish. The fifth caution of the evening waved on lap 111, as Buescher told his Wolf Pack Rentals crew that his truck was “tight across the center.”
· Buescher restarted from sixth-place on lap 118, and another quick caution came out three laps later with the youngster breaking into the top-five. On the lap 126 restart, Buescher passed a fellow competitor for fourth-place and never looked back.
· As a late-race caution left the field with a two-lap shootout, Buescher held on to fourth-place and came home with his second consecutive top-five finish.
Kyle Busch won the NC Education Lottery 200. Todd Bodine, Ron Hornaday Jr., Buescher, and Elliott Sadler completed the top-five finishing positions.
FAST FACTS:
· The caution-flag was displayed seven times, accounting for a total of 35 laps.
· In the past two weeks, Buescher has captured his career-best finish and career-best qualifying effort in NASCAR competition – both in the second position.
· Buescher and the No. 31 Wolf Pack Rentals Chevrolet will take a week off before returning to racing action at Buescher’s home track, Texas Motor Speedway on Friday, June 4th. Live coverage can be seen on SPEED beginning with the Set-Up show at 8:30 PM Eastern, as well as the live radio broadcast heard on MRN Radio and Sirius-XM Satellite Radio.
JAMES BUESCHER QUOTE:
HOW WAS YOUR RACE?
“Our race was really good. These Turner Motorsports guys gave me another awesome Wolf Pack Rentals Chevrolet and it’s great to get back-to-back top-five finishes. We’re on a roll right now and I’m excited to be running up front again. When you can show up at the track and know that you are going to be competitive, it makes your confidence level go up. We will carry this momentum to Texas in two weeks and I’m definitely looking forward to going back to my home track.”
-TMS-
