Buescher Battles SVG for the Win

Go Bowling at The Glen:

Chris Buescher snagged the win at Watkins Glen International Raceway on Sunday afternoon! The win was the Prosper, Texas native's first win of the 2024 campaign. Unfortunately for Buescher the win came too little too late to lock him into the playoffs. It was, however, a huge win for the 17 team as a statement that they are still a capable and competitive team, and Buescher outdueled road course ace Shane van Gisbergen on the last restart to capture the checkered flag.

The last lap was one for the ages. SVG powered his car past Buescher on the Overtime restart and looked like he was off to the checkered flag. But Buescher stayed close enough to keep the pressure on SVG and was ready to pounce if the opportunity presented itself. I, for one, was skeptical the 17 would have a shot after the 16 car was in the lead. Nothing against Buescher, you just don't see SVG make those types of mistakes on a road course. I was setting up fir an SVG win and storyline with Buescher brutally coming up short once again - another painful 2nd place finish. But I was wrong! SVG slipped in the bus stop and Buescher pounced on his opportunity to the lead. This chain of events led to a true stock car battle to the checkered flag. Bumpers banging, paint trading, and racers racing. It was a thing of stock car racing art. And on the other end of the battle, Chris Buescher came out on top and burned it down on the front stretch.

The rest of the race was good! To me it was a race that was more reminiscent of pre-NextGen era that made NASCAR shift to more road courses. There was some tire falloff - not as much as I expected - there was some passing, there was pit strategy, there was attrition, and there was a compelling battle for the win. I applaud NASCAR's and Goodyear's efforts to making the race more exciting and compelling. We're not there 100% yet but we are trending in the right direction. Personally, and I know many fans, drivers, crew chiefs, reporters, and industry experts who would agree, I think we need to drastically increase the horsepower. NASCAR, and OEMs(?) are in some fantasy land that that is not attainable or the right direction to go, but I firmly believe they are wrong. More horsepower will make the racing better, and put more onus on the drivers.

We move forward to the round of 16 elimination race at Bristol Motor Speedway this Saturday for the Cup Series, regular season finale for the Xfinity Series, and race two of the Round of 10 for the Truck Series. The Craftsman Truck Series will kickoff the weekend of racing on Thursday night at 8 p.m. EST on FS1 with the UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics. The Xfinity Series will set their playoff field Friday night at 7:30 p.m. EST on The CW with the Food City 300. And the Cup Series will battle under the lights on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. EST with the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on USA.

Bristol Picks:

Cup = Denny Hamlin

Xfinity = Sheldon Creed

Truck = Corey Heim

Header Photo: Brian Smith, TobyChristie.com