The beginning of the 2024 NASCAR Cup season has posed challenges for Buescher, who showcased strong performance towards the end of the previous season.
As Sunday’s race approached, Buescher had only managed one top 10 finish and experienced a wreck during the previous weekend’s race in Las Vegas, resulting in a 23rd place position in the series standings.
During Sunday’s race, Buescher’s team opted to pit on lap 208 out of 312, which coincided with one of the last cautions of the race.
From that point on, Buescher faced the task of conserving fuel over the final 104 laps while maneuvering through the field. Despite the challenge, he surged into the runner-up position with just 10 laps remaining, eventually being surpassed by Christopher Bell who clinched the victory.
Reflecting on the race, Buescher expressed satisfaction with the team’s performance, despite falling short of victory. He highlighted the resilience displayed following a tough outing the previous week and emphasized the collective effort towards securing a win as a team.
Even if Buescher had been in a better fuel position – another group of cars that included Bell made their final stop on lap 218 – he wasn’t sure he had a car capable of running down Bell.
Bell led the final 41 laps as Toyotas combined to lead 298 of the 312 laps on Sunday. Bell led twice for 50 laps.
“I didn’t quite see (Bell) there at the end, so I know they were lights out,” Buescher said. “We have some work to do to get to that point. What thrills me is we were by no means perfect on balance so we have a lot of room to make this thing better, which is awesome.
“It tells me we can go compete for that (win). Really impressed with everybody today, we did a heck of a job, worked hard to get back up where we needed to be at the end.
“I was able to save just enough fuel to go 100-percent at the end. Got to second. Really proud with that.”