Buescher ends strong Nationwide run at KC with 18th spot finish

[NickHolt]

STRONG RUN ENDS IN 18TH-PLACE FINISH FOR JAMES BUESCHER AND NO. 30 SPORTING KANSAS CITY TEAM

 

Kansas City, Kan. (October 9, 2011) – Taking a break from his full-time pursuit for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) championship, James Buescher stepped back behind the wheel of the No. 30 Chevrolet this weekend at Kansas Speedway. Representing Kansas City’s Major League Soccer team, Sporting Kansas City, on the track with several of the team members on his pit box, he was ready for another good run in his seventh NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) start of the season. After running in the top-10 for part of the afternoon, Buescher brought his No. 30 machine home in the 18th spot when pit strategy played out at the end of the race.

 

Rolling off from the 28th spot, Buescher and his team knew they had a lot of work to do to make their way to the front of the pack. After staying on the race track during several early-race caution periods, crew chief Stewart Cooper called Buescher to pit road under caution in lap 39. With Buescher reporting a very tight condition in his Chevy, Cooper called for a ‘big swing’ during their first pit stop. Hitting pit road while running in the 21st position, the Sporting Kansas City crew quickly changed four tires, filled the car with fuel, and made track bar, wedge and air pressure adjustments, getting Buescher back on the track in the 18tht spot for the restart. As the race went back under green-flag conditions, Buescher immediately reported the car’s handling was a lot better.

 

Making his way into the 17th position before the next caution was displayed on lap 60, Buescher again came to pit road for four tires, fuel, and heavy adjustments, as the car had grown tight over the green-flag run. Reporting his Chevrolet was much better after the second set of adjustments, Buescher was in the 11th position by lap 69. When the caution was displayed on lap 86, Buescher reported he was losing grip and was a tick free. Cooper again called his driver to pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Another blazing fast stop by the No. 30 pit crew got Buescher back onto the track in the 10th spot.

 

As the field took the green flag for the restart, Buescher immediately reported his Chevy was growing tighter. With the race past the half-way point, he was battling a tight-handling condition that persisted over the remainder of the event. The pit crew proved very impressive and gained Buescher spots on the last two pit stops of the day, but the team could not overcome the tight-handling condition. After running inside the top-10 for a majority of the day, Buescher brought home an 18th-place finish when his tires fell away on the last run of the afternoon. Buescher will head to Las Vegas to battle for the NCWTS championship next weekend.

 

“Our finish today does not represent the race we had," said Buescher. "The track conditions changed several times over the course of the race, and we just couldn’t get the car free enough. I cannot say enough about these guys this weekend, they never gave up and this pit crew was awesome! They were fast all day and didn’t make any mistakes. I want to thank everyone at Turner Motorsports and everyone at Sporting Kansas City for making this weekend possible. I had a great time playing soccer with them and I think they had a great time at the race as well. Hopefully we can do this again in future and I am looking forward to the rest of these Nationwide races over the next month.”