The win for Front Row Motorsports was the second in the team’s history. If both drivers maintain their average form the entirety of the 2016 season, Buescher doesn’t make the Chase. He must finish the regular season ranked 30th or better in the standings.
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Even though Buescher now has a win to his name, he isn’t quite locked in for the chase just yet.
“We’re in the hunt”. “We can handle this”. “Everybody had doubts we’d get the truck race in Saturday, but we did”. We got a flat tire, but we’re headed in the right direction now, so that will help in points. “We need to get more competitive here at the end so we can stay in the Chase”. After a wait of almost an hour under the red flag, NASCAR was forced to make the race official as thunderstorms approached with 138 of the 160 scheduled laps complete.
“But at the same time if he’s not, I feel like each time I’m in the vehicle I’ll be more confident and comfortable to get better results”.
The race was postponed Sunday at 2:43 p.m. ET because it had taken three hours to dry the track earlier. “Things happen, it’s part of hard racing”.
Keselowski finished second and Regan Smith placed third.
The start of the race Monday was delayed as track workers hit the track to clean up weepers. If you want to get technical about it, throw in Martin Truex Jr. blistering the field at Charlotte in equipment Furniture Row Racing gets from Gibbs and JGR equipment has won exactly half the races so far this season. The pole-sitter hunkered down with the lead and stayed there for 16 laps.
The race never ran more than eight laps without a caution. Johnson should be able to make a push for the win today.
The culprit? A lug nut that came off the first set of tires bounced off the ground, flew through one of the wheel holes, and lodged between the caliper and the wheel, knocking off the tire’s inner stem valve. You can equate some of that to being a rookie, but based on what teammate Landon Cassill has done (albeit with some bad luck), this is about what FRM is this season.
Others at the track tell us they were impressed by all the work the raceway put into making sure fans got a show. Logano finished 37th and two laps down. On TV, Buescher said they were “maxed out” in how much support they have already obtained from Ford and Roush Fenway Racing.
Four laps later the caution flag waved as a misting rain moved in.
Carlos Munoz was third and 2015 race victor Graham Rahal was fourth, 7.01 seconds behind. Taking over after pit stops was Larson.
Consensus, though, is that Kyle Busch is the best at restarts.
Chase Elliott and Joey Loganogo around! Logano, who had led 38 laps, saw his shot at the victory ended.
Buescher’s maiden victory comes in his 27th start. The Team Penske driver walked away unhurt and he blamed an improperly installed brake line on the crash. But the three, as well as a good portion of the field, began pitting under green starting on lap 125.
On Lap 126, Larson headed into the pits from the lead.
The reigning XFINITY Series champion last pitted on lap 107 and was out front when the fog rolled in over the track from the Turn 1 side.
How Buescher Won: After battling back from a pit road speeding penalty and the team fixing damage to his No. 34 Ford, Buescher was in the right place at the right time when fog approached Pocono. This is the second such race held at the Pocono Raceway this summer, the first one also had similar weather conditions which led postponements.
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Aric Almirola benefitted from a rain-shortened win at Daytona International Speedway in 2014 to qualify for the Chase, Allmendinger did it, and now Buescher has his chance. “I don’t know – frustrating but it’s racing, I guess”. Mother Nature can be real nice some times and can be really mean. “If the sun had come out it would have changed our whole day”.
