Chris Buescher continues to prove he can turn left and right.
The 22-year-old Texan finished third last weekend at Watkins Glen, highest among NASCAR XFINITY Series regulars, to extend his standings lead to 24 points over both defending champion Chase Elliott and Ty Dillon. Buescher also outpaced road course ace Boris Said, as well as NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stalwarts Paul Menard and Kyle Larson.
Buescher gets to run another road course this Saturday in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN)—a place where he earned his first career victory last season and is the defending race winner.
“Mid-Ohio is a track that we have been looking forward to all year,” Buescher said. “There is a little extra pressure coming off of last year’s win, but we have really good notes and I know we will have a fast Zest Mustang. We have good momentum leaving the Glen and we just need to keep that rolling into the next few months.”
Buescher’s third-place finish at Watkins Glen was his first top-10 showing in five races. Despite his struggles, Elliott has failed to gain major ground on him.
He is prepared for another charge from Elliott and third-place Ty Dillon (-24 points), noting the intensity will gravitate down the stretch run.
“A lot of drama is what it sums up too,” Buescher said. “It’s gonna be wild. Points racing has a way of bringing out the emotion in everybody.”
After wrecking out of the race for the second straight week at Watkins Glen and falling off the 16-driver Chase Grid last Sunday, Kasey Kahne knows what he has to do to make NASCAR’s playoffs—the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
“At this rate we’re going to need to win,” Kahne said. “That’s the only way we’ll go into the Chase. We’ve got to get a little better. I need to get a little better.”
Kahne has four races left to get that win, starting with Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN).
The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports driver claims one victory at Michigan (June 2006) and believes he can adapt well to the high-drag track-specific rule package that will be used there this weekend.
“There were times at Indianapolis when we were really quick with that package,” Kahne said. “I know they’re working hard to bring a little less drag and more downforce there for us, all four of us (at Hendrick Motorsports). So hopefully we can run good at Michigan and maybe get a win there.”
Kahne finds himself in a similar position to where he was last year prior to the Chase. Too low in points to qualify without a victory, Kahne won the second-to-last race of the season at Atlanta to punch his ticket into NASCAR’s postseason.
While Michigan is not Kahne’s best track historically, he has proven he can win at a variety of loops, with victories at 11 different venues including short and intermediate tracks and road courses.
“The main thing is that all of the equipment we get at Hendrick Motorsports is good enough to win every weekend,” Kahne said. “We need to get on the ball here and do that, and I don’t see any better weekend to do that than the next one.”
SHOW #371 – Guest: Double Watkins Glen Winner Joey Logano – We recap the Watkins Glen road course weekend, Jeff Gordon lends voice to cartoon, Tony Stewart in hot water, Jimmie “Triathlon” Johnson making us look bad, a full Michigan preview is packed in there as well…did we mention last weeks winner Joey Logano is on? Why aren’t you listening already? Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Toby Christie
Average Speed: 91.420 MPH
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 24 Mins, 43 Secs. Margin of Victory: 5.273 Seconds
Caution Flags: 5 for 16 laps: Laps: 26-28 (Debris Turns 6 and 7 [26]); 33-35 (Debris Esses [16]); 47-49 (#3 Accident Backstretch [43]); 51-54 (Fluid On The Track [Red Flag 9:03] [3]); 58-60 (#14 Stopped On Track [47]).
Lead Changes: 8 among 8 drivers
Lap Leaders: A. Allmendinger 1-20; M. Truex Jr. 21-25; A. Allmendinger 26; C. Whitt 27-28; B. Keselowski 29-55; Kyle Busch 56-58; M. Kenseth 59-60; K. Harvick 61-89; J. Logano 90;
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): K. Harvick, 1 time for 29 laps; B. Keselowski, 1 times for 27 laps; A. Allmendinger, 2 times for 21 laps; M. Truex Jr., 1 time for 5 laps; K. Busch, 1 time for 3 laps; M. Kenseth, 1 time for 2 laps; Cole Whitt, 1 time for 2 laps; J. Logano, 1 time for 1 lap.
Chase Grid Outlook: 1.J. Johnson 747 (4 wins);2.Kyle Busch (4); 3.K. Harvick 823 (2);4.J. Logano 781 (2);5.D. Earnhardt Jr. 750 (2);6.M. Kenseth 703 (2);7.Kurt Busch 659 (2);8.B. Keselowski 719 (1);9.M. Truex Jr. 714 (1);10.D. Hamlin 631 (1);11.C. Edwards 589 (1);12.J. Mcmurray 635 (0);13.P. Menard 622 (0);14.J. Gordon 620 (0);15.R. Newman 613 (0);16.C. Bowyer 612 (0).
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – A week after running out of fuel while leading with three laps left at Pocono, Joey Logano finished off an unprecedented weekend sweep at Watkins Glen International with his first road course victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Pressuring race leader Kevin Harvick over a 30-lap green-flag run to the finish of Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen, Logano made the winning pass through the final two corners at the 2.45-mile road course as Harvick ran out of fuel in Turn 6.
Picking up his second victory of the season and the 10th of his career, Logano crossed the finish line 5.273 seconds ahead of Kyle Busch, who grabbed second place as Harvick coasted over the stripe to secure third.
Matt Kenseth came home fourth, and Kurt Busch recovered from a pit road penalty (crewmen over the wall too soon) to finish fifth, as Logano became the first driver ever to win both the XFINITY and Sprint Cup Series races at Watkins Glen International in the same weekend.
“I’m still just trying to catch my breath,” Logano said after climbing from his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. “I was really excited after that one. I was running down Harvick there for a little bit, and once I got close to him, he started to pick up his pace a little bit, which was good, because I needed him to run out of gas.
“I started to catch him a little bit, and I drove into (Turn) 1 too hard (on the final lap) and started to wheel hop. I just about lost it, and at that point you just hope he runs out of gas, which he did in the last corner. It makes up for last week. We lost the race last week the same way, so it makes up for it to get it this week.”
Logano led only one lap — the last one.
With Logano’s victory, every driver who has won a race this season — with the exception of Kyle Busch — has clinched a berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, assuming each starts the remaining races of the regular season. Busch cracked the top 30 in the standings for the first time after returning from an 11-race injury absence.
With four victories, Busch must simply finish the 26-race regular season four races hence in the top 30, and that was the primary reason he didn’t make a harder push to catch Logano in the closing laps.
“I think that was some of (crew chief) Adam (Stevens’) worry, too,” said Busch, who like Logano, had pitted for fuel under caution on Lap 58 of 90 and who, like Logano, had run out of gas in the closing laps at Pocono. “We couldn’t afford running out of gas like we did last week and taking home an even worse finish this week, because of how many cars finish on the lead lap typically at a road course.
“We’d be back in the 30s somewhere. I’m sure that was weighing on Adam’s mind on being able to save it and make it to the end and just playing it a little bit more cautious, which is fine. I’m with Adam 100 percent of the way all the time.”
The race dealt potentially devastating blows to several drivers hopeful of qualifying for the Chase on points.
Jeff Gordon had brake problems almost from the outset and finished 41st, dropping two spots to 12th in the standings. Kasey Kahne’s No. 5 Chevrolet was the victim of a hard wreck when the field accordioned behind Sam Hornish on a restart on Lap 49; he fell two positions in the points to 17th, outside the window for making the Chase.
Jamie McMurray’s Chevrolet ran into the back of Logano’s Ford on that same restart, crushing the nose of the car. McMurray came home 40th and dropped one position to ninth in the standings.
If there are no more first-time winners in the next four weeks, and if Kyle Busch remains in the top 30, there will be five Chase spots available on points. Currently, the top five drivers in the standings without a victory are McMurray, Paul Menard, Gordon, Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer.
Notes: Polesitter and defending race winner AJ Allmendinger led the first 21 laps, but an alternator problem relegated him to a 24th-place finish… Tony Stewart started third but retired in 43rd place after 56 laps because of a rear gear failure… Harvick led a race-high 29 laps, two more than Logano’s teammate, Brad Keselowski, who pitted with Busch and Logano under caution on Lap 58 and worked his way up to seventh at the finish.
Chris Buescher continues to prove he can turn left and right.
The Final Lap Weekly 