Never Give Up Attitude Pushes Buescher to 11th-Place Finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway

NASCAR Nationwide Series – Dollar General 300
October 11th, 2013 – Charlotte Motor Speedway

James Buescher and his Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM) team looked to head to the front after qualifying in the 30th position for Friday night’s Dollar General 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After making his first green-flag pit stop, Buescher got caught by an untimely yellow flag that trapped his No. 34 Fraternal Order of Eagles (F.O.E.) team one lap down. Just past the halfway mark, the team was able to take the wave around, putting their No. 34 back on the lead lap. Running lap times as quick as the top five running cars, Buescher’s Chevy Camaro was a little too tight at the end of the race to catch the 10th-place running car, giving Buescher a solid 11th-place finish.

After starting towards the back of the 40-car field, Buescher and his TSM crew came into the Dollar General 300 with nothing to lose with only running in the NASCAR Nationwide Series on a part-time basis. The Dollar General 300 started off with a long green-flag run and after vaulting 10 spots in just 20 laps, Buescher radioed to his F.O.E. crew that his Camaro was a little too tight center off. The crew would take this into account for the first round of pit stops that came on lap 49 when Buescher came to the attention of his crew for a green-flag pit stop. The F.O.E. team bolted on four Goodyear Eagle tires, made a slight chassis adjustment and filled the No. 34 Chevy with Sunoco fuel. Just a couple laps later, the yellow flag fell for an accident on the frontstretch. This yellow flag came at a bad time for the No. 34 team as green flag pit stops had yet to cycle through, putting Buescher a lap down. The 23-year-old and his TSM team never gave up, however, as they went to work trying to get into the “lucky dog” position to get back on the lead lap.

Running in the 20th position, Buescher fought hard against the other cars that were also caught a lap down until just before the halfway mark of the 200-lap race. On lap 90, the third of five yellow flags were displayed and after some discussion between Buescher and his TSM crew, they decided to stay out, take the wave around and gain their lap back.. Restarting in the 20th spot, Buescher and the crew were hoping for a quick yellow flag as they were due to pit on lap 112. As the crew prepared to come down pit road for another green-flag pit stop, the yellow flag was displayed for the fourth time, allowing Buescher to make his pit stop under yellow. On the same pit cycle as the rest of the field, Buescher started to pick off positions. On lap 141, Buescher cracked the top 15 for the first time in the race, and he didn’t stop there as he was running lap times as quick as the top-five cars. Running in the 11th spot, Buescher’s Chevy proved to be just too tight to gain ground on the 10th-place car, leaving Buescher to settle for a solid 11th-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Once again, our Fraternal Order of Eagles team never gave up. Our qualifying effort was less than stellar, but I was confident that my team could give me the adjustments we needed during the race to get our F.O.E. car into contention. We were able to catch a break a about the halfway mark of the race to get back on the same pit cycle as the leaders. We’re happy to leave here a solid finish and look forward to returning to the Truck Series next weekend. – James Buescher

Start – 30, Finish – 11, Laps Led – 0, Points – 0