Story By: BRANDON LEE / RFK RACING – LOUDON, NH – Chris Buescher and the No. 17 Fastenal team put together another solid effort and result in Monday’s postponed race from New Hampshire Motor Speedway, finishing 15th after a chaotic ending.
Monday’s race was postponed from Sunday’s slot after persistent rains in the New England area. Buescher began the day from the 26th position, but wasted no time rising from there, spending more than half of the afternoon inside the top-15.
Following a fairly uneventful stage one that saw just one caution and Buescher finish 17th, the No. 17 had to overcome a loose wheel midway through stage two. He did just that, though, driving back to a 14th-place finish by the stage two end at lap 185.
A long, green-flag run of 70+ laps allowed the field to spread out early in stage three, but three cautions would fly over the final 31 laps. Buescher sat 13th at the time of the first, and with varying strategies in play, pitted under the caution for the final time on the day.
The second caution was displayed with 20 to go, this time from the No. 48 just in front of the No. 17. Buescher had to check up to avoid him and was unfortunately scored 18th, not the position he was running when the 48 went spinning.
Despite the setback, Buescher overcame in the final 11 laps to battle back to 15th, his 14th top-15 result of the season.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Pocono Raceway next for its lone race date of the season. Race coverage Sunday afternoon is set for 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.