Bristol | The MotorSportsNews.Net(work)

Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. Finishes in the 10th-place at the Bristol Motor Speedway

by MikeJune 1, 2020

RCR Post Race Report – Supermarket Heroes 500

by MikeJune 1, 2020

Hard Work and Teamwork Contribute to Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Symbicort (budesonide/formoterol fumarate dihydrate) Chevrolet Team’s Sixth-Place Finish at Bristol Motor Speedway

	6th
	20th
	16th

“A sixth-place finish for the No. 3 car! The Symbicort (budesonide/formoterol fumarate dihydrate) Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was good when it mattered. We worked really hard today. It was a hard-fought battle. The car was tight. We cut a right-front tire, and Goodyear said they didn’t know what happened to the tire, but we recovered. We made some great adjustments throughout the race to improve the handling. We were pretty fast at the end of the race. Justin Alexander made a great call to take tires with 38 laps remaining, and it showed. I can’t believe the No. 2 car won. It just shows you have to stay in these races until the end. We were racing him right before the last caution came out, and he goes on to win the race. We’re getting there. I love how these races are playing out. We’re getting closer and closer to a win. We’re headed to Atlanta Motor Speedway next week, and we will be ready.”

-Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and the Alsco Uniforms Team Have Day at Bristol Motor Speedway Cut Short Due to On-Track Incident

	36th
	21st
	18th

“Well, unfortunately we had an early end to my NASCAR Cup Series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway. We had a handful with the balance of our Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet today and weren’t quite where we needed to be to start the race. We worked really hard though and got it to where I thought it needed to be. We were even able to start clicking off some top-five lap times and just needed some track position to get up there and start contending. We had started to weed away at that, and I’m confident we would have gotten up there. I could run the top lane pretty well, which was helping a lot. It’s unfortunate, but it’s a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time at Bristol. I saw the No. 47 get spun, and I saw him go down, but then I couldn’t see him anymore. I was worried if I checked up too much I’d get caught up in it, but it didn’t matter and I got caught up in it anyway. Just a tough situation and a tough way to end our day.”

-Tyler Reddick

Clint Bowyer 2nd in Bristol

by MikeJune 1, 2020

Late Surge Propels No. 14 ‘Built Ford Proud’ Mustang

Date: May 31, 2020

Event: Food City presents the Supermarket Heroes 500 (Round 9 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval)

Format: 500 laps, broken into three stages (125 laps/125 laps/250 laps)

Start/Finish: 23rd/2nd (Running, completed 500 of 500 laps)

Point Standing: 12th with 232 points, 138 out of first

Race Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 2 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-125):

● Clint Bowyer started 23rd and finished 12th.

● The No. 14 “Built Ford Proud” Mustang held its position early in the race before stopping at the lap 20 competition caution.

● Bowyer moved from 29th to 19th before pitting during the second competition caution on lap 60.

● Bowyer began turning “crazy fast times” according to the crew driving from 17th to 12th before the end of the stage.

● During the stage break, Bowyer pitted for adjustments to help the car’s rotation in the turns.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 126-250):

● Bowyer started 10th and finished sixth to earn five bonus points.

● The No. 14 “Built Ford Proud” Mustang faded to 16th by lap 180 with Bowyer reporting the car was “really tight.”

● Bowyer pitted for major adjustments to fix the issue during a caution on lap 200.

● The changes helped as Bowyer clawed back to 10th by lap 230 when a nine-car accident stopped the race for 11 minutes.

● Bowyer restarted the race in 10th with just 15 laps left and moved to eighth before another caution slowed the field.

● Bowyer jumped from eighth to sixth in the seven-lap green flag run to end the stage.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 251-500):

● Bowyer started 14th, finished second.

● The No. 14 “Built Ford Proud” Mustang moved to eighth by the caution on lap 360.

● Over the next 70 laps, tight handling issues plus cars with fresher tires shuffled Bowyer back to 15th.

● Bowyer pitted for adjustments and restarted the race in 14th with 61 laps remaining.

● Things got worse as Brad Keselowski and Ryan Newman made contact sending Newman into Bowyer causing significant left-side damage to the No. 14.

● Bowyer restarted the race in 13th with 37 laps remaining. Immediately after the restart Bowyer deftly avoided a seven-car accident in front of him.

● Bowyer restarted ninth with 30 laps to go and used fresh tires to drive to fifth before the next caution flew with 10 to go.

● The race restarted with just five laps remaining and it didn’t take long for the leaders Joey Logano and Chase Elliott to start beating and banging.

● Bowyer never lifted as the pair collided and slid into the wall to claim second place.

● There weren’t enough laps to chase down Keselowski for the victory.

Notes:

● Bowyer earned his second top-five and third top-10 of the season, and his eighth top-five and 16th top-10 in 29 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol.

● This is Bowyer’s fifth straight top-10 at Bristol and his seventh top-10 in the last nine races at Bristol.

● Since joining SHR in 2017, Bowyer has only finished outside the top-10 once at Bristol.

● Keselowski won the Food City presents the Supermarket Heroes 500 to score his 32nd career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his third at Bristol. His margin of victory over second-place Bowyer was .471 of a second.

● This was Ford’s series-best fifth win of the season and its 691st all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory.

● This was Ford’s 38th NASCAR Cup Series victory at Bristol. The last Ford driver to win at Bristol was Kurt Busch in August 2018 while a member of SHR.

● There were 17 caution periods for a total of 102 laps.

● Only 22 of the 40 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● Kevin Harvick remains the championship leader after Bristol with a 24-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 ‘Built Ford Proud’ Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“Wow what a finish. That got wild. The boys hung in there and just kept digging. The old girl said “Built Ford Proud” when she probably should have said “Built Ford Tough” because she had all four corners knocked off it. We actually struggled pretty bad with our setup. I don’t know, it was floating the nose really bad up off the corner all day long. I could gain and make some ground up in the center of the corner in, and in the middle, but if I had to pass somebody and turn underneath of them I didn’t have the real estate. The outside was no man’s land for me. I couldn’t get my front end to turn at all.”

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Folds of Honor 500 on Sunday, June 7 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race starts at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Custer Finishes 35th at Bristol

by MikeJune 1, 2020

Accident Ends Rookie’s Day Prematurely

Date: May 31, 2020

Event: Food City presents the Supermarket Heroes 500 (Round 9 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval)

Format: 500 laps, broken into three stages (125 laps/125 laps/250 laps)

Start/Finish: 22nd/35th (Accident, completed 228 of 500 laps)

Point Standing: 24th with 140 points, 230 out of first

Race Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsport (Chevrolet)

Stage 2 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsport (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-125):

● Cole Custer started 22nd and finished 26th.

● Throughout the first two cautions, Custer remained on the track in his HaasTooling.com Mustang even though he was tight to the center and off of the turns. He restarted 13th on lap 29.

● At the lap-62 competition caution, Custer pitted from 20th for fuel, four tires and adjustments to help with his tight handling condition. He restarted 24th.

● During the Stage 1 break, the 22-year-old pitted from 26th for fuel, four tires and adjustments to help with his tight-handling HaasTooling.com Mustang.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 126-250):

● Custer started 20th and finished 35th.

● The caution was thrown on lap 198 and the California native reported his car was improving and would like more of the previous adjustment. After visiting pit road, he restarted 21st on lap 207.

● Next caution was displayed on lap 211 with Custer in the 19th spot. He didn’t visit pit road and restarted 18th on lap 216.

● On lap 217, the caution was once again displayed with Custer in 17th.

● Custer restarted 17th on lap 221 after not pitting.

● On lap 228, Custer was collected in a multi-car accident, which ultimately ended his day and relegated him to a 35th-place finish.

Notes:

● Custer made his 12th career NASCAR Cup Series start and his first at Bristol.

● Brad Keselowski won the Food City presents the Supermarket Heroes 500 to score his 32nd career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his third at Bristol. His margin of victory over second-place Bowyer was .471 of a second.

● This was Ford’s series-best fifth win of the season and its 691st all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory.

● This was Ford’s 38th NASCAR Cup Series victory at Bristol. The last Ford driver to win at Bristol was Kurt Busch in August 2018 while a member of SHR.

● There were 17 caution periods for a total of 102 laps.

● Only 22 of the 40 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● Harvick remains the championship leader after Bristol with a 24-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

Cole Custer, Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“Well, that stinks. We were getting our car a lot better and then caught up in the wreck. Just so little time to react so you get caught up in them pretty easily here at Bristol. That’s just how it is here. I thought our HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang was getting a lot better. I felt like we could’ve run in the top-10. We were a lot better than where we were running. We were going forward, but our pit stall wasn’t helping us either. We were getting blocked in about every time and that hurt us too. We’ll move on to the next one, but man, I thought we were going to have a good day here.”

Next Up:

John Hunter Nemechek Post-Race Report: Bristol

by MikeJune 1, 2020

Track: Bristol Motor Speedway, 0.5 Mile Oval

Race: 9 of 38

Event: Supermarket Heroes 500 (266.5 miles, 500 laps)

John Hunter Nemechek

No. 38 Scag Power Equipment Ford Mustang

Started: 18th

Finished: 13th

Stage One: 19th
Stage Two: 11th
Stage Three: 13th

John Hunter Nemechek started Sunday’s “Supermarket Heroes 500” at Bristol Motor Speedway in the 18th position. The balance of his No. 38 Scag Power Equipment Ford Mustang was decent, but Nemechek radioed multiple times that he needed to be freer, noting that track position was a challenge at Bristol. Crew Chief Seth Barbour and the team made adjustments to the track bar and tire pressure as Stage 1 progressed. Nemechek took the green- and white-checkered flag in 19th place.

Stage 2 was mired with caution after caution, including one on-track incident that briefly brought out the red flag for cleanup. Nemechek’s No. 38 Scag Power Equipment Ford was on both sides of balance at various points, namely free at the end of a run, but “still a tick snug center.” While running 13th towards the end of the stage, he told the team that he felt faster than the cars in front of him, but it was too difficult to pass. Nemechek would finish Stage 2 in the 11th position.

Nemechek drove inside the top 20 through the majority of the final stage, cracking the top 10 with a little over 120 laps remaining. An issue with the car overheating led Nemechek down pit road multiple times under caution late in the race, but he still managed to stay on the lead lap. The No. 38 team continued their battle at “The Last Great Colosseum,” never giving up. Nemechek’s Scag Power Equipment Mustang crossed the finish line in 13th place.

Nemechek on Bristol:

“It was a tough day, but we still fought to have a good finish under the circumstances. Seth and the crew put together a super fast Scag Power Equipment Ford Mustang. We started off the day a little tight, needing more turn. In that last stage though, we had some issues with overheating and that cost us some precious track position. It’s a challenge at Bristol to stay on the lead lap, let alone finish top-15 after the day we had. I’m so proud of my team for sticking with me and never giving up. We fought hard and still came out of it P13. Thanks to Scag Power Equipment for coming on board with us again. I’m looking forward to getting back after it at Atlanta next weekend.”

Michael McDowell Earns New Personal Best Finish at Bristol

by MikeJune 1, 2020

Track: Bristol Motor Speedway, 0.5 Mile Oval

Race: 9 of 38

Event: Supermarket Heroes 500 (266.5 miles, 500 laps)

Michael McDowell

No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang

Started: 25th

Finished: 14th

Stage One: 24th
Stage Two: 20th
Stage Three: 14th

Michael McDowell took the green flag in Sunday’s “Supermarket Heroes 500” at Bristol Motor Speedway from the 25th position. To start the race, McDowell mentioned that his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang fired off, “a little free overall” and then noted on lap 23 that the track was finally beginning to take rubber. McDowell would go on to finish Stage 1 in the 24th position. Under the Stage 1 caution, Crew Chief Drew Blickensderfer made the call for 4 tires and fuel.

During Stage 2, the No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang began to tighten up as McDowell radioed to the team to say, “I’m tight in dirty air, which is weird here at Bristol.” Under a mid-stage caution, McDowell brought his Love’s Travel Stops Ford to pit road for 4 tires, fuel, a wedge adjustment and pulled left-rear spring rubber. To end Stage 2, McDowell noted that his race car was a lot better, finishing in the 20th position. During the Stage 2 caution, he pitted for 4 tires and fuel.

During the final stage of Sunday’s “Supermarket Heroes 500,” Michael McDowell and his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang made their way inside of the top 15 and then top 10 before unfortunately being collected in a late-race collision. Thankfully, the No. 34 team was able to make the necessary repairs on pit road to keep their race car competitive. Ultimately, good strategy calls all day long by Blickensderfer and a late-race charge by McDowell would bring the No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang home 14th, earning McDowell a new personal best finishing position at Bristol Motor Speedway.

McDowell on Bristol:

“We had a great run going today at Bristol. My Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang was pretty close to the top 10, but unfortunately got involved in a mid-race collision and had some damage. Thankfully, Drew and my guys on pit road did a great job of making repairs and we recovered alright to get a few spots back at the end and finish 14th. Overall, Bristol has always been a tough track for us, so to be competitive and run up front made it a solid day.”

Newman Battles to 15th-place in Castrol Ford at Bristol

by MikeJune 1, 2020

BRISTOL, Tenn. (May 31, 2020) – Perseverance was the name of the game in Sunday’s 500-lap race from Bristol Motor Speedway, as Ryan Newman battled to the end in the Castrol Ford to earn a 15^th-place finish.

After starting 17^th on the grid, Newman overcame two solo spins – one early and one late – and bounced back from an ill-handling machine to record the top-15. With competition cautions slated for laps 20 and 60, teams played varying strategies, as the traction compound had to work into play over the course of the 266 miles.

Newman’s first spin came at lap seven, where he took advantage of an early pit stop for adjustments on the No. 6 Mustang. With a large chunk of cars pitting at the ensuing competition yellow at lap 20, Newman stayed out, gaining track position up to 16^th by lap 29.

He ran 17^th at the next yellow at lap 60, and after service on pit road restarted 27^th. He went on to finish the opening stage in 29^th, battling a tight-handling machine.

After firing off 27^th in the second stage, Newman eased his way inside the top-20 for a restart at lap 207, but again fell a few positions battling the handling. At lap 229 a multi-car incident occurred, with Newman avoiding the chaos in 27^th.

After the red was lifted, Newman restarted 24^th for a 15-lap shootout to the stage end and worked his way to 18^th by lap 250 following another quick yellow. Halfway home to 500 laps, strategy came into play as a host of cars stayed out, putting Newman seventh on the restart to begin the final stage.

He maintained the 10^th spot for the first few laps of the run, before teammate Chris Buescher caught the wall at lap 268. By lap 300 Newman ran 18th and worked his way to 15^th for a restart at lap 334 after continued service on his Ford to fine tune the handling.

Twenty laps later, Newman spun on his own from the 20^th spot, reporting he had no turn in the center and was loose in. From there, he ran 18^th with 100 to go as the handling went to a loose condition. He would restart 11^th with 61 laps to go, before getting pushed up the track by the No. 2 machine, causing slight cosmetic damage.

The team would spend the remaining laps battling for position, ultimately crossing the finish line 15^th.

With the first midweek off since NASCAR’s return to racing, the NASCAR Cup Series has a full week break this week, before heading to Atlanta Motor Speedway next Sunday. Race coverage begins from Atlanta at 3 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.

Almirola Finishes 29th at Bristol

by MikeJune 1, 2020

Smithfield Ford Driver Races as High as Second; Involved in Lap-464 Accident

Date: May 31, 2020

Event: Food City presents the Supermarket Heroes 500 (Round 9 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval)

Format: 500 laps, broken into three stages (125 laps/125 laps/250 laps)

Start/Finish: 2nd/29th (Accident, completed 470 of 500 laps)

Point Standing: 11th (240 points, 130 out of first)

Race Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 2 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-125):

● Aric Almirola started second and finished fourth, earning seven stage points.

● The Smithfield Ford driver started on the bottom groove and fell to sixth before a caution on lap six.

● Almirola drove to fourth before the competition caution.

● He restarted fourth and drove the No. 10 Ford to second-place before the second competition caution.

● Almirola pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments to restart third.

● Starting on lap 110, Almirola tapped the No. 2 car’s bumper multiple times to ultimately make the pass. He noted tight-handling conditions during the run and held the No. 10 Ford inside the top-five.

● He pitted at the end of the stage for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 126-250):

● Almirola started sixth and finished 21st.

● Almirola raced the No. 10 Ford to fourth by lap 177.

● He was scored second after a caution on lap 199. He said his car was good on the long runs and tight on the restarts.

● Almirola pitted for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments to restart fifth.

● After a red flag on lap 229, Almirola was scored eighth. On the restart, he said he may have a tire going down and pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 251-500):

● Almirola started 10th and finished 20th.

● Almirola advanced the Smithfield Ford six positions on the restart before a caution on lap 269.

● He raced to third before a caution on lap 329. He pitted for four fresh tires, fuel and adjustments to restart third.

● After another caution on lap 355, Almirola reported a loose wheel and pitted for four tires, fuel and chassis adjustments to restart 10th.

● Almirola was contacted by the No. 2 car on the restart and dropped to 13th.

● He rejoined the top-10 on lap 393.

● Almirola pitted under caution on lap 433 from eighth-place for four tires, fuel and more chassis adjustments after noting loose-handling conditions. He came off pit road in seventh.

● Another caution was called with 43 laps to go. Almirola opted not to pit with 19 laps on his tires.

● During the restart, Almirola was involved in an accident and hit the outside wall. He was forced to pit to repair damage and returned to the track two laps down. He retired the No. 10 Smithfield Ford on lap 470 due to unrepairable damage.

Notes:

● This was Ford’s series-best fifth win of the season and its 691st all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory.

● This was Ford’s 38th NASCAR Cup Series victory at Bristol. The last Ford driver to win at Bristol was Kurt Busch in August 2018 while a member of SHR.

● There were 17 caution periods for a total of 102 laps.

● Only 22 of the 40 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● Kevin Harvick remains the championship leader after Bristol with a 24-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“Man. We had such a good car today. We would have had a shot at a top-three finish. That’s Bristol. I felt like I had a tire going down at one point, so we pitted and even came back to the top-10 from that pretty quickly. We had a loose-wheel later and had to pit under caution that put us 10th. We were definitely making our way back towards the front and had a promising finish if we didn’t get caught up there. It looked like the 19 got into me. The car just took off towards the wall and we were done. I hate it for this Smithfield Ford team. We’re flirting on the edge of some really good runs. The good news is we came to Bristol with a setup that can win, so we’ll have confidence coming back.”

Next Up:

Harvick Rallies to Finish 11th at Bristol

by MikeJune 1, 2020

Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang Driver Remains First in NASCAR Cup Points

Date: May 31, 2020

Event: Food City presents the Supermarket Heroes 500 (Round 9 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval)

Format: 500 laps, broken into three stages (125 laps/125 laps/250 laps)

Start/Finish: 8th/11th (Running, completed 500 of 500 laps)

Point Standing: 1st (370 points, 24 ahead of Joey Logano)

Race Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 2 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-125):

● Kevin Harvick started eighth and finished sixth, earning five bonus points.

● The No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang was fine early on. Harvick said he was “just saving my tires.”

● Harvick pitted on lap 62 for four tires, fuel and a tires pressure and track bar adjustment. Came in 10th, and left seventh.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 126-250):

● Kevin Harvick started sixth and finished third, earning eight bonus points.

● The No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang pitted on lap 129 for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. He entered the pits in sixth place.

● On lap 204, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment. Harvick exited in fourth-place.

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 251-500):

● Kevin Harvick started 14th and finished 11th.

● The No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang pitted on lap 253 for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment. Said car was still too tight.

● On lap 330, Harvick pitted for four tires and fuel. Said the cars balance was good.

● With 67 laps left, Harvick’s car got into the car driven by Erik Jones and then got into the SAFER Barrier on the outside retianing wall while in fifth place. He pitted twice for repairs and restarted 21st with 61 laps remaining.

● On lap 459, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. Crew also made more repairs and Harvick restarted 19th.

● After restarting 19th, Harvick managed to work his way up to 11th place.

Notes:

● This was Ford’s series-best fifth win of the season and its 691st all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory.

● This was Ford’s 38th NASCAR Cup Series victory at Bristol. The last Ford driver to win at Bristol was Kurt Busch in August 2018 while a member of SHR.

● There were 17 caution periods for a total of 102 laps.

● Only 22 of the 40 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● Harvick remains the championship leader after Bristol with a 24-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

● Harvick finished sixth in Stage 1 to earn five bonus points and third in Stage 2 to earn eight more bonus points.

Next Up:

Buescher Finishes 23rd at Bristol

by MikeJune 1, 2020

BRISTOL, Tenn. (May 31, 2020) — After a promising start and another stage point collected with a 10th^–place finish in the second stage of Sunday’s 500-lap race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Chris Buescher and the No. 17 SUNNYD team’s bid at a strong finish came to a halt when the No. 17 Ford contacted the wall and cut a tire midway through the event, ultimately resulting in a 23rd- place finish.

Buescher rolled off the grid at the .533-mile oval in 19^th battling a tight handling condition. The No. 17 team made their first trip down pit road with the competition caution at lap 20 for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. The team had to revisit pit road to switch out a transponder at lap 25 and got back on track for the restart in 25th. Buescher toggled between 25th and 29th until the next competition caution at Lap 60. The SUNNYD team made an air pressure adjustment at the caution and restarted 27th, which is where Buescher took the green-white checkered flag in stage one.

The Prosper, Texas native reported that his Ford was handling tight. After pitting for tires, fuel, grill tape and an air pressure adjustment the team restarted 24th for the second stage at lap 136. Buescher maintained track position, working his way up to 22nd until a caution flag waved at Lap 199. Still reporting a tight handling Ford, Buescher also said his car was improving as the team pitted for an air pressure adjustment along with more tires and fuel. The adjustments at the caution paid off as the team restarted 18th. Strategy played out after a couple more cautions helped Buescher work his way up to 15th. At lap 229, the driver narrowly avoided a huge wreck that red flagged the track for about 12 minutes. The team elected to stay out, restarting 12th with 15 to go in the stage. Another caution flag waved just a few laps later, but Buescher and the No. 17 team stayed out to gain track position. When the green-white checkered flag waved for stage two, the SUNNYD team crossed the line 10th, earning one stage point.

Buescher reported that his No. 17 machine was still handling tight, so the team pitted at the stage break for tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. The driver got to work, restarting 20^th, but then hit the wall twice at Lap 265 to bring out the caution. The team pitted twice during the caution to assess the damage and got back on track, 28th and four laps down. Unfortunately, the damage was too much to escape as the No. 17 team finished 23rd, four laps down.

Buescher and the No. 17 team return to action next Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Race coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.