Return to Short-Track Racing…Buescher returns to Iowa Speedway this weekend coming off his first top-five finish of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) season at Kentucky Speedway. In their two most recent trips to Iowa Speedway, Buescher and his No. 31 team looked like they would end up in victory lane until the bad luck bug bit the Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM) team, effectively ending their races with disappointing finishes. Buescher comes into Iowa with four top-10 finishes in his five starts, leading 98 laps in the last two.
Gotta Have a Rheem…The No. 31 TSM entry will once again run the familiar Rheem colors this weekend at Iowa. Buescher looks to use the momentum that the Rheem team has built in recent weeks and bring Rheem their first win with Turner Scott Motorsports. Rheem Manufacturing Company (www.rheem.com) is privately held with headquarters in Atlanta. In its 87th year of operation, the company manufactures a full line of high-quality residential and commercial heating and cooling systems; tank, tankless, solar, and heat pump water heaters; swimming pool heaters and commercial boilers throughout North America and world markets. The company’s premium brands, including Raypak, Ruud and Rheem, have been recognized with countless industry and consumer awards for reliability, innovative design and high quality. Rheem, now in its seventh consecutive year as a NASCAR sponsor, is the official heating, cooling and water heating supplier to Turner Scott Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing. Rheem also sponsors RCR’s No. 29 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car driven by Kevin Harvick and the No. 33 NASCAR Nationwide Series car driven by Paul Menard.
Kentucky Recap…When the green flag turned the field loose, Buescher got caught up in a three-wide battle with his TSM teammates Jeb Burton and Miguel Paludo. Near the halfway mark of the race, the No. 31 F.O.E. Chevrolet came to life and Buescher worked his way inside the top five. Running fourth for the last green-flag run, Buescher and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) star Kyle Busch put on a show for the fans as they had a back-and-forth battle for a podium finish. Buescher came up just inches shy at the line, bringing home the F.O.E. team’s first top-five finish of the season.
No Off Week…Buescher used the NCWTS off week to return to the NASCAR Nationwide Series and went down to Daytona to make his second series start of 2013. After starting the Subway Firecracker 250 in the 17th position, Buescher was looking to make some friends and searched around for a drafting partner during the first half of the race; however, when it came down to when it counted, Buescher was able to get hooked up with NSCS standout Matt Kenseth and the two rocketed to the front of the field. With a green/white/checkered restart, Buescher was able to push Kenseth out to the lead and brought the Florida Lottery Camaro home in the second-place finishing spot.
Chassis Info…The Rheem team will bringChassis TSM-601 with them this weekend to Iowa Speedway. The only previous race on this chassis was at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this season, where Buescher drove it to a top-10 finish after starting in the back of the field.
Now Appearing…On Saturday, come and get an autograph from Buescher and his TSM teammates during the NCWTS autograph session located under the Turn 4 grandstands from 2:30 to 3:15 p.m. CDT.
Watch and Listen…The American Ethanol 200 can be seen live on Saturday, July 13th on SPEED. Race coverage will begin at 8:00 p.m. EDT. The event can also be heard live on MRN Radio as well as SiriusXM Satellite Radio, channel 90.
James Buescher on returning to Iowa Speedway
“Iowa has always been a great track for our Turner Scott Motorsports team; we just haven’t been able to close it and put our truck in victory lane. My Rheem team has had a couple strong weeks as of late, and I really feel we have built up a lot of momentum coming into this weekend’s race. I feel like we have a legitimate chance of winning and continuing our march up the standings.”
