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HM_112115_14Nov. 21, 2015

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – As it turned out, the final step in Chris Buescher’s march to the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship was almost pedestrian.

None of his closest pursuers could mount a serious challenge for the victory in Saturday’s Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In fact, Buescher, title runner-up Chase Elliott and fellow contenders Ty Dillon and Regan Smith all went a lap down to race winner Kyle Larson during a long green-flag run in the middle of the race.

Ultimately, Buescher got a free pass back to the lead lap and finished 11th, leaving him with a 15-point edge in the standings over Elliott, the defending series champion, and 18 over third-place Dillon, who finished seventh on Saturday.

With no real pressure from his competition, and with 18 points in hand entering the race, Buescher’s primary task was to keep his No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford out of trouble, and the 23-year-old Texan did exactly that.

If the pressure of an impending first NASCAR national series championship was weighing on him, Buescher didn’t show it.

“I did a good job masking it didn’t I?” Buescher said after the race. “I was a little nervous. All things considered, that was exactly what we needed to do, and we knew that and knew we were capable of doing it.

“I’m glad we could pull it off for all the people that were on board all year, AdvoCare, Roush Performance, Cheez-It and all the fans. I know the weather wasn’t ideal today (rain caused the fourth caution), but they hung in there with us and we made it through this thing and get to celebrate.”

More than seven years earlier, Buescher left home to pursue a racing career, despite the reservations of his parents.

“I’m glad (my mother) let me,” Buescher said. “I think she’s OK with it now. I have to thank my parents so much for the opportunity to be here and leave home and do this. That was such an amazing race, just being careful.

“Our Fastenal Mustang had good speed in it. We just had to be careful out there… It’s pretty amazing to be in this position.”

Keeping his desire to race for victories in check, however, has been a difficult proposition for the young champion.

“I am not a points racer,” Buescher said. “I don’t like it. It’s not the most fun way to run the last 10 races of the season, but it is important.

“This is what we have been fighting for since February at Daytona, and these guys (the team) have done such a great job and stuck in there with us all year and had no mechanical failures or DNFs. It’s a huge accomplishment for our team.”

Austin Dillon, who finished second to Larson on Saturday, wasn’t surprised Buescher and his team exhibited that sort of race management.

“Chris is a smart race car driver,” Dillon said. I think that’s what won him a championship. I noticed it earlier on in the year. I’ve noticed it from when he was driving ARCA against Ty (Dillon, Austin’s brother). Him and Ty had good battles then, and Chris is always smart with his equipment.

“I think he knows the ability of the equipment, uses it to its ability every time, and finishes races well. So I think Chris is going to be good. He’s smart. He doesn’t tear up stuff. He’s raced with less before, and it teaches you what you have in the car, so I think he’s very good at managing his equipment and getting the best out of it.”

Interestingly, even with a championship to his credit, Buescher hasn’t settled his plans for next season.

“I’m optimistic about it,” Buescher said. “I feel like we’ll have something… I just don’t have anything right now. We don’t have everything planned out at the moment. It will be a couple weeks, I’m sure, before we get everything lined up and get a little bit closer – not that I’m worried about it.

“I feel pretty confident that the guys back at the shop are doing everything they can to get sponsors on board and to try to put together a 2016 season, wherever that may be.”

Team owner Jack Roush indicated Buescher would run some NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races next season. What’s unknown is how many.

“We’re still not sure what his arrangement is going to be next year,” Roush said. “He will be involved in a Cup car to some extent, but whether it’s a part-time program or a full program, we’re still in the midst of finalizing the conditions.

“We’ve got a number of possibilities, but we’re not ready to announce that today.”

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Kroger 250 - PracticeNov. 20, 2015

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – With the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title now in Erik Jones’ rear-view mirror, the immediate question becomes “What’s next for the 19-year-old prodigy?”

With a relatively nondescript, problem-free sixth-place finish in Friday night’s Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jones secured the series driver’s championship, as well as the owner’s title for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Discovered by Busch when he beat his future car owner as a 16-year-old in the Snowball Derby for Super Late Models, Jones delivered the championship after running two part-time seasons for KBM.

“I can’t think of a better way to repay these guys,” Jones said in Victory Lane, after securing the title by 15 points over runner-up Tyler Reddick. “I can’t think of a better way to thank Kyle for all these years (than by) getting the driver’s championship for him. He’s wanted one since the company started, and to bring it home for myself and for KBM, you couldn’t really ask for a better ending than that.”

The youngest champion in series history at 19 years, 5 months, 21 days, Jones has been earmarked for a meteoric ascent to the top level of NASCAR racing.

“It means so much more to have the opportunity to help these younger drivers and to help these kids that are coming up through the ranks to be successful,” Busch said.

“And to do that with Kyle Busch Motorsports and Toyota, there’s nothing greater than to have that feeling and to build that company from the ground up, from nothing, and take it to where it is today.”

But first things first. Team owner Joe Gibbs reiterated on Friday the plan to run Jones in a full season of NASCAR XFINITY Series racing next year, with a few selected Sprint Cup events added to the mix.

Jones has already gotten his baptism in Sprint Cup. Earlier this season, he subbed for Kyle Busch at Kansas, the last of 11 races Busch missed after breaking his right leg and left foot in the season-opening XFINITY Series event at Daytona.

Jones filled a relief role for Denny Hamlin at Bristol in April, after Hamlin’s neck locked up during a rain delay. And when Matt Kenseth earned a two-race suspension for wrecking Joey Logano on Nov. 1 at Martinsville, Jones was tabbed to replace him.

His first laps in a Sprint Cup car were hardly tentative. Behind the wheel of Busch’s No. 18 Toyota, he ran consistently in the top 10 before crashing on lap 196 of 267 at Kansas.

Subbing for Kenseth at Texas and Phoenix, Jones qualified sixth and seventh, respectively, and finished 12th and 19th against the top stock car drivers in the world.

Despite the speed he has shown in the Sprint Cup series, Jones is content to let his career take its course.

“Absolutely, I think the XFINITY Series is completely necessary,” Jones said. “I have no problem running a year there… as long as need be there. I don’t know what the exact career path is for me down the road.

“At some point, yeah, I want to race in the Cup series every weekend. I feel like there’s a plan in place for that opportunity to arise. And I’ll just keep taking what’s given to me every week and go out and try to win races.”

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NSCS_Champ4_MD_111915_02By Seth Livingstone
NASCAR News Service

Homestead, Fla. – When you’re a single-car team, competing for NASCAR’s biggest prize, you have to work smart and do things a bit differently.

That’s where Furniture Row’s Cole Pearn comes in. The first Canadian NASCAR Sprint Cup Series crew chief graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Waterloo (Ontario). A former late model driver and three-time Canadian go-kart champion, his preferred participation sport is beer league hockey. It meshes perfectly with the Rocky Mountain lifestyle of his Denver-based race team.

More importantly, Pearn, 33, has meshed seamlessly as crew chief for Martin Truex Jr., putting the No. 78 in position to challenge the best from Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing for NASCAR supremacy in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 Championship Round race at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET on NBC).

Compared to the pit box resume of Jeff Gordon’s crew chief Alan Gustafson or Kyle Busch’s crew chief Rodney Childers, who seeks a second consecutive title with Kevin Harvick, Pearn might seem out of his element. But Furniture Row general manager Joe Garone points out that Pearn is hardly a novice.

In fact, the London, Ontario native was an engineer for Kevin Harvick’s car at Richard Childress Racing before accepting a supporting role at Furniture Row and serving as lead engineer under crew chief Todd Berrier. He’s been part of the steady progression at Furniture Row, galvanizing his team and acting decisively.

“I’m going to take credit for Cole,” Garone says. “Early on, I told Barney (team owner Visser) that this kid could be as good as there is in NASCAR as a crew chief. He’s driven, he’s a mechanical engineer and he just gets it. He understands processes and procedures, but he also understands when you just have to get down in the grease and flog when you have to get a car done. He sees both sides of it. I’m just thrilled to see him take the reins and be able to have success.”

The opportunity presented by Sunday’s Championship Round race, in his rookie season as crew chief, is definitely not lost on Pearn.

“Our shop foreman this week told me that the last time he’d been in this kind of position was 1992 and that really puts it in perspective,” Pearn says. “You never know when the next time (will be). Especially with this (championship) format, anything can happen to take you out. I’m definitely just trying to enjoy the moment, stay focused and make the most of it.”

Adam Stevens, hand-picked by Kyle Busch to become his pit boss, has been on a similar trajectory since his driving career flamed out. He studied mechanical engineering at Ohio University before joining forces with Petty Enterprises in 2002. Lured to Joe Gibbs Racing, he teamed with Busch to win 19 XFINITY Series races (and finish top five in 46 of 52 starts) in 2013-14.

He could never have imagined how his first season as a Sprint Cup crew chief would unfold.

“It’s been a wild year, starting with Kyle’s accident (at Daytona),” says Stevens, 37, who paired with drivers David Ragan, Matt Crafton and Erik Jones before Busch returned to win four of his first nine starts. “We started off with high hopes … then, before we even left Daytona, that was all taken away from us. To battle back from that, with all the wins that we’ve had along the way and good runs in competitive cars, is remarkable at this stage.

“I’ve been to Homestead the last three years in the championship hunt running for (the) XFINITY Series owner’s championship, so I know a little bit about what that’s about. And I had championship experience as a race engineer on the 20 Cup car in 2005 with Zippy (Greg Zipadelli) and Tony (Stewart). I’m not a complete stranger to it, but still, up there on the box and doing it for yourself is a whole different animal.”

Busch knows he might not be racing for a championship if not for Stevens.

“It was tough to be at home, lying in my bed and watching other guys race my car,” he said. “I can’t say enough about Adam Stevens and the teamwork, being able to keep everyone together and focused and motivated for my return.”

While Busch and Stevens may be only 24 races into their Sprint Cup alliance, Alan Gustafson comes at Sunday’s race with a completely different perspective. With 11 years as a Sprint Cup crew chief, he knows Sunday will be his final race with Jeff Gordon.

Gustafson, 40, says there is “added incentive to send Jeff out on top, as we believe he deserves – and we’re working hard to do that. Jeff has been a huge part of the sport … and a huge part of our company and our success.”

Of course there’s also Gustafson’s personal quest for his first Cup title.

“It would be a huge thing for me to win a championship,” he says. “It’s been my goal my whole career. I’ve been in this building, the 5/24 shop (at Hendrick) since its inception, and that’s been the goal. I think it would set a nice culture or legacy standard to propel us into the future with Chase (Elliott). You never know if you’ll get a chance to be back in this position again.”

Childers is fortunate enough to have that encore opportunity with Harvick. They won at Homestead to capture the Sprint Cup crown in their first season together at Stewart-Haas Racing, and they’ve been dominant at times in 2015.

“We’ve had fast cars all year,” says Childers, 39, who has finished in the top 10 in more than half (36 of 71) of his races with Harvick. “It’s just been a fun season, and you know, we look forward to the opportunity of going down there and at least having a shot at it and being able to do something special.”

Harvick, who benefitted from Childers’ decision to take four tires late in last year’s title-deciding race, appreciates his crew chief’s judgment in critical situations.

“I think the confidence between myself and Rodney is, obviously, pretty high,” Harvick says. “I believe in what he does. I believe in what my team does and, I think, that in the car, they believe in what I do. The chemistry on this team is so special. Through the Chase, I just believe that every step of the way, it’s been just (a series) of character-building moments that have made us stronger.”

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HM_112015_071 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 30.568 176.655
2 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 30.636 176.263
3 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Crispy Toyota 30.671 176.062
4 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet 30.796 175.347
5 24 Jeff Gordon AXALTA Chevrolet 30.806 175.291
6 21 Ryan Blaney(i) Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 30.832 175.143
7 19 Carl Edwards ARRIS Toyota 30.846 175.063
8 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 30.849 175.046
9 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nationwide Chevrolet 30.914 174.678

LISTEN: THE FINAL LAP WEEKLY NASCAR PODCAST #385 – MARTIN TRUEX/MADISON MARTIN/TIM DUERR – HOMESTEAD PREVIEW

10 3 Austin Dillon DOW Chevrolet 30.922 174.633
11 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet 30.946 174.498
12 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 31.017 174.098
13 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet 30.779 175.444
14 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Foods Ford 30.786 175.404
15 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 30.793 175.365
16 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Chevrolet 30.808 175.279
17 27 Paul Menard Richmond/Menards Chevrolet 30.815 175.239
18 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet 30.815 175.239
19 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 30.820 175.211
20 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger/Scott Products Chevrolet 30.882 174.859
21 16 Greg Biffle Bleacher Report Ford 30.960 174.419
22 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald’s Chevrolet 30.974 174.340
23 42 Kyle Larson Target Plaid Chevrolet 31.024 174.059
24 15 Clint Bowyer 5-hour Energy Toyota 31.277 172.651
25 33 Ty Dillon(i) Nexium 24 Hr Chevrolet 30.884 174.848
26 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford 31.014 174.115
27 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 31.065 173.829
28 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Cheney Brothers Ford 31.084 173.723
29 95 Michael McDowell Thrivent Financial Ford 31.097 173.650
30 51 Justin Allgaier Brandt Chevrolet 31.142 173.399
31 26 JJ Yeley(i) Maxim Toyota 31.178 173.199
32 32 Josh Wise Zak Products Ford 31.244 172.833
33 7 Alex Bowman Nikko RC/Toy State Chevrolet 31.259 172.750
34 40 Landon Cassill(i) Snap Fitness Chevrolet 31.283 172.618
35 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 31.311 172.463
36 14 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet 31.345 172.276
37 83 Matt DiBenedetto # Cosmo Toyota Owner Points
38 55 David Ragan Aaron’s Online Dream Machine Toyota Owner Points
39 46 Michael Annett Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Owner Points
40 35 Cole Whitt Speed Stick Ford Owner Points
41 38 David Gilliland Florida Lottery Ford Owner Points
42 34 Brett Moffitt # FR8 Auctions Ford Owner Points
43 98 Ryan Preece East West Marine/Logan’s/FireAde Chevrolet Owner Points

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Wood Brothers AnnouncementWood Brothers Racing announced today that it will run a full, 36-race schedule in 2016 with Ryan Blaney continuing as the team’s driver contending for a NASCAR Sprint Cup championship with Motorcraft/Quick Lane and Ford Performance returning as anchor sponsors.

HOMESTEAD, Fla., November 20, 2015 – Wood Brothers Racing announced today that it will run a full, 36-race schedule in 2016 with Ryan Blaney continuing as the team’s driver contending for a NASCAR Sprint Cup championship with Motorcraft/Quick Lane and Ford Performance returning as anchor sponsors.

“We are beyond excited to make this announcement about going back to full time competition,” said Eddie Wood, team co-owner, at a press conference at Homestead-Miami Speedway during Ford Championship Weekend. “It has been something we’ve worked toward since 2009 when we started running limited schedules.

“I have to thank Ford’s Dave Pericak and Raj Nair, Edsel Ford, our technical alliance partners Team Penske and Roush Yates Engines, as well as everyone at Motorcraft, for working with us to make this day possible,” Wood continued. “It’ll be fun to see just how good Ryan Blaney, Jeremy Bullins and our team can be over a full season.

“Lastly,” he added, “it’ll be great not to have to worry about rain anymore on qualifying day.”

Due to their limited schedule and the current point system, inclement weather prevented Wood Brothers Racing from qualifying for three races in which they were slated to run this season.

“We are proud to have played a role in helping get the Wood Brothers back on the track full time for 2016,” said Pericak, global director, Ford Performance. “These guys have been Ford’s most-loyal team for 65 years and they deserve the chance to show how they can perform when they are at every race. They’ve earned a full-time slot by running strong all year, even under adversity. We plan on being part of this when they capture their 100th Cup victory.”

“This is a day everyone has looked forward to,” said Edsel B. Ford II, board member, Ford Motor Company. “The Wood Brothers represent everything that is great about this sport – tradition, family, loyalty, competition. When we asked them to regroup and consider going part-time in 2009, it was always with an eye on getting back to this day. And we are thrilled it is finally here.”

Thus far in 2015, the Wood Brothers’ iconic No. 21’s best finishes were fourth in the spring Talladega race, 12th at the Brickyard, 14th in the fall Charlotte race and seventh in the most-recent Kansas race. Even in the four races when the team had engine problems, the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion was running toward the front of the field when the trouble arose.

“This is every driver’s dream come true,” Blaney said, “Getting a chance to run for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. I’m really looking forward to running a full schedule with this historic Wood Brothers team and hopefully get them their 99th and 100th wins sooner rather than later.”

Motorcraft’s partnership with Wood Brothers Racing began in 2001 and quickly bore fruit by winning the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway with Elliott Sadler behind the wheel. The Motorcraft-Wood Brothers pairing had its greatest triumph in 2011 when rookie driver Trevor Bayne captured the Daytona 500.

“We are thrilled to have been able to work with Ford Performance to make the Wood Brothers’ a full-time race team for the 2016 NASCAR season,” said Mary Lou Quesnell, director of marketing for Ford Customer Service Division. “Wood Brothers Racing has been an excellent representative of our brands for 15 years and we look forward to seeing the famous No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion on the track week after week.”

In addition to Motorcraft and Quick Lane Tire and Auto Centers, the team will look to add additional sponsors to the roster during the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season.

Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glen Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 98 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 117 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glen’s brother, Leonard, who still can be found in the team’s pit, is known for inventing the modern pit stop.