By Sarah Handy, Staff Writer
JTG-Daugherty Racing’s Chris Buescher may have not yet found victory lane in 2019, however, he’s still having one of his best season’s in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
Buescher, a native of Prosper, Texas is in his fourth full-time season overall and his third with JTG.
Buescher’s Cup resume prior to joining JTG consisted of one career win in NASCAR’s premiere series, two top-5 and two top-10 finishes.
That lone win came at Pocono Raceway in 2016 when the driver spent time with Front Row Motorsports.
Since teaming up with JTG in 2017, Buescher has vamped up his resume by adding on two top-5, and 9 top-10 finishes.
Fast forward to 2019 and Buescher and his team continue to have one of their best seasons.
The 26-year old has captured 3 top-ten finishes in 2019 compared to earning just two all of last year.
In addition, Buescher has 11 top-20 finishes following Chicagoland where he crossed the finish line in the 18th position comparison to 7-top-20’s at this point in 2018.
The consistency continues to show heading into the second half of the season. Something Buescher and team will continue to strive for as the seasons goes on.
Buescher recently spoke to Kickin’ The Tires and here’s what he had to say on his 2019 season so far, Crew Chief Trent Owens, the Cup schedule and more.
You’ve had three top-10 finishes on the season already whereas last year you had two all season. Would it be correct to say you’re pleased with how the season is going? Things seem headed in the right direction.
Buescher: Things are definitely headed in a right direction now. All season, we’ve shown that we’ve had speed in our Camaro ZL1s. The guys at the shop have worked incredibly hard all year to get us to where we are at and where we are going.
We had a tough stretch there where something has happened and our finishes haven’t shown the real race and where we’ve been running, but I think we are working well together, learning every weekend and continuing to improve.
We’re at a point where we’re starting to make new goals, which is always a good feeling.
Speaking of going in the right direction, you haven’t finished worse then 16th (heading into Chicago) since 23rd at Dover. The momentum seems to keep on rolling week in and week out for you and your team, you continue to impress. It has to be a great feeling to be battling towards the front each week.
Buescher: It is a great feeling. Our goal this year was to run at least five spots better every week than we did at that race last year. I think for the most part, we have hit that goal, and we’re starting to make new goals to continue pushing forward and make those guys know that we are there and we’re not backing down.
Some weeks are tougher than others, is there a piece of advice or encouragement you try to keep in the back of your mind?
Buescher: I think having the consistency we’ve had this season, which is the most I’ve had in my career at JTG Daugherty Racing, is encouraging to get through those tough weeks.
You’re not going to hit it every week. Some weeks are going to be tougher than others, but we have a really good team and really smart people at the track and at the shop that I want to continue working for and showing them their hard work is not for nothing.
You’ve had Trent Owens a top the pit box for a number of seasons now. With changes constantly happening in the sport and how important communication is, would you say it has made a difference having the same crew chief for the past few seasons?
Buescher: Trent and I work really well together. That’s part of the consistency I talked about earlier. Having that same team and same crew is something I haven’t really had in my career up until this point.
Now that we have a few seasons together, we’re continuing to grow and build our relationship and I think that’s one of the most important things we have here at JTG Daugherty Racing.
With the help of Kroger and our brands – Kimberly Clark Corporation, BUSH’S Beans, Maxwell House and Planters, just to name a few – that keeps everything moving forward in a positive direction, and we couldn’t do that without them.
Is there a track coming up on the schedule that you feel is your best shot to capture your second career Cup win?
Buescher: Bristol Motor Speedway is one of my favorite racetracks. You obviously want to be competitive every week, but that’s a track that I always have circled on my calendar, and we’ve had the speed and the cars there in the past several races to run up front.
In the fall last year, we had contact and cut a tire with only a handful of laps to go, but we were running consistently in the top five when it happened. Same thing this spring – we were running consistently in the top five and we had a loose wheel.
That’s some of the tough breaks I mentioned before that haven’t told the story of our races. With that being said, I know Bristol will be a great shot for us.
You have Ryan Preece as a teammate this season, has he come to you for any type of advice, do you two communicate often?
Buescher: Ryan and I are actually more similar than some people might think. We both come from a similar background moving up in the sport, and I think that helps our communication each weekend and in our competition meetings. We talk together a lot to try and make not just ourselves better, but the organization as a whole.
Out of curiosity, do you ever see yourself running a race in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series?
Buescher: I’ve actually never run a NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race. My path was a little bit different than most, going straight from ARCA Menards Series to the NASCAR Xfinity Series, but I wouldn’t be opposed to running a race at Eldora Speedway in a truck.
Changes were previously announced to the 2020 schedule. If you could add any track to the schedule which one do you think you’d choose?
Buescher: For me, I would love to race at somewhere like Toledo Speedway. We had a lot of fun racing there in ARCA and I was able to pick up a few wins. Maybe it’s a short track thing for me, but I think that would be a fun racetrack to bring a Cup car.
Single-car qualifying has been back for a while now, do you prefer it, or did you personally enjoy group qualifying?
Buescher: I may have a different opinion, but I prefer the single car qualifying. We had a couple of qualifying attempts ruined with the way group qualifying was turning out this season, and this gives everyone a fair shot at a lap to line up for Sunday.
If you could race against any drivers past or present who would you like to race against?
Buescher: Growing up in Texas and watching NASCAR races, I was always a Rusty Wallace fan. I think it would be awesome to get to race against him one time.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received and by whom?
Buescher: I can’t think if there’s any one piece of advice that has stuck with me throughout the years.
I’ve been very fortunate to have great people in my racing career that have helped me get to where I am, from David Ragan and his family taking me in when I moved to North Carolina when I was 16, to my motor coach driver who has been with me since my legends car days, to Tad and Jodi, Brad Daugherty, Gordon Smith and everyone at JTG Daugherty Racing. I just continue to thank them every day for letting me do what I love every weekend.