By Sarah Handy, Staff Writer
NASCAR driver Chris Buescher has had quite the impressive Top-20 streak going for the last 14 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races, and he continued that streak following the Bojangles Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway this past weekend. Buescher finished just outside the Top-10 in the 12th position.
Buescher and his No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing team have not finished outside the Top-20 since the 2019 Gander RV 400 on May 6 from Dover International Speedway, a race in which he was credited with a 23rd place result.
The Prosper, TX native is having one of his best seasons in the MENCS in comparison to last season. At this point one year ago, Buescher had 13 Top-20 finishes but they weren’t consecutive, they were scattered. This season he has a total of 19 Top-20 finishes in 25 events and the season isn’t over yet.
Furthermore, Buescher has four Top-10’s to this point in the season, while he had just two all of the 2018 NASCAR season.
Kickin’ The Tires recently spoke to Chris Buescher regarding this impressive streak he and his team have going.
“It’s definitely a positive for everyone at JTG Daugherty Racing. Now in year three with the team, and for the most part, the same crew (Trent and our engineers have been with us all three years, and we’ve had a couple of great additions as well), we’re really working together and have put in the time and effort to build up our team to where it is now”, said Buescher.
“We set a goal in the offseason to run at least five positions higher every week than we did the last two years, and it’s really rewarding to see that come to life and see that all of the hard work everyone has put in over the offseason and through the year is paying off. Of course, we always want more, and we’re already setting new goals for the end of the season.”
The MENCS next race is Sunday’s Big Machine Vodka 400 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, often referred to as The Brickyard.
In three previous starts at the famed track, Buescher has a career best finish of 9th which came in the 2017 event. Overall, Buescher has one Top-10, one Top-15 and three Top-25 finishes at Indy.
“I won’t lie, Indianapolis Motor Speedway is not my favorite big track. It’s been a really tough race for us in the past. However, with the package we have now, some of these tracks that weren’t great for us last year, have been much better. It’ll be really hard to pass, I think”, Buescher told Kickin’ The Tires.
“We’ve been working really hard to get our qualifying speed better so we can start out with that track position and race well from there, and I think that showed at Darlington Raceway last weekend. Indianapolis is a place where we can over perform from where we were expecting to be, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do in our No. 37 Fast Lane to Flavor Camaro ZL1.”