Roush Fenway driver Chris Buescher geared up for New Hampshire run

Chris Buescher came of age as a NASCAR Cup Series driver under the banner of Roush Fenway Racing.

Buescher is enjoying his second tour of duty with RFR inside the No. 17 Roush Fenway Ford Mustang and on July 18, he will compete in the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H.

Buescher was an ambitious 16-year-old from Prosper, Texas, when he joined the Roush Fenway organization as a developmental driver in 2009. Buescher found the workload strenuous and the track conditions demanding but he made it work to his advantage. He earned his bones as a driver on the junior level by winning the 2012 ARCA Menards Series Championship in partnership with Roulo Brothers Racing.

“I was a developmental driver for Roush Fenway and what that entailed early on was really working in the pit stop practice area, going into the gym with the trainers and then running in ARCA the first four years,” said Buescher.

“But I always had the developmental side of it through Roush and I always planned on being in a Cup car with that organization. It was neat to see it all come full circle and come to fruition and now I’m starting to see us get into our stride here.”

Buescher advanced up the developmental ladder when he began competing on the Xfinity Series with RFR. He competed in 74 Xfinity races over five seasons and made steady improvements along the way. Buescher brought home Hall of Fame owner Jack Roush’s eighth NASCAR championship by capturing the Xfinity title in 2015.

Buescher moved up to Cup Series racing in 2016 when he became a full-time driver for Front Row Motorsports through an alliance with RFR. Buescher was essentially traded from RFR to JTG Daugherty Racing in 2017, where he competed through the 2019 season. He notched his only Cup Series victory as a rookie in the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono on Aug. 1, 2016.

“It was kind of more circumstantial than anything where we were at with Roush Fenway and where the sport was at,” said Buescher. “It worked out well to be able to go over to Front Row in the alliance with Roush Fenway and get my first year of Cup experience under my belt.

“I was able to win a race and make my way into the playoffs my rookie year, which was pretty awesome. Everybody did a good job that season getting it done for a rookie learning a lot along the way as well.”

Buescher was still under the Roush Fenway umbrella when the team parted ways with driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. after the 2019 season. Buescher made his return from the pandemic-interrupted 2020 season, where he entered into a racing triangle with crew chief Luke Lambert and driver Ryan Newman. Lambert had been Newman’s crew chief during their stint together with Richard Childress Racing but he was assigned to Buescher.

“I came back to where I always figured I would end up when I was 16 years old starting out in stock car racing,” said Buescher. “The way it worked out over the years I was able to find my way to where I figured I would be and it all went as smoothly as it could have.”

Buescher is currently 15th in the driver standings with 427 points after placing 20th and 19th, respectively, in a weekend Cup Series doubleheader at Pocono. He has four top-10 finishes this season with a best of seventh at Atlanta.

Buescher will compete in two more races before the No. 17 crew arrives at the Magic Mile. Boston Red Sox principal owner John Henry bought a 50% stake in Roush Racing in 2007 and the outfit was rebranded Roush Fenway Racing.

If the Red Sox were playing at home during race week, Henry likely would have tendered Buescher an invitation to throw out the first pitch at Fenway Park. Stenhouse and Newman were Henry’s ballpark guests in the past.

“I would assume New Hampshire has a special place for Mr. Henry and we really want to make a strong showing,” said Buescher. “With that being said, Loudon has been a challenge for us for a handful of years.”

Buescher has competed in seven Cup Series races at NHMS with an average finish of 23.6 and a best of 15th in July 2019.

“This is a track we are continuously working hard at trying to improve but we have not checked all the right boxes just yet,” said Buescher. “All it is going to take is to hit it right just one time and it will completely change our perception of the race track.

“We are hoping it is this time around and we will continue to do our work on it right up until race weekend at Loudon. We want to be as good as we can be with the tools that we have.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2TmDQ0E